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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22752658">Just Getting Comfy</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/CookieDoughMe/pseuds/CookieDoughMe'>CookieDoughMe</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haven (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>M/M, Masturbation, Mutual Masturbation, Nathan's POV, Shared fantasies, Teasing, This is mostly Duke and Nathan - all the other characters have pretty minor roles, a mixture of fluff and smut seasoned with some temporary angst and dusted with a little hurt/comfort, apologies as always for any accidental Britishisms, because they just deserve a bit of luxury ok?, if you're looking for penetration this is probably not the fic for you, plenty of jerking off as well - idk I guess I have a thing for their hands, trouble-free AU, unrealistic luxury hotel scenario</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 10:46:57</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>48,882</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22752658</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/CookieDoughMe/pseuds/CookieDoughMe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The story of one of the infinite number of ways that Duke and Nathan meet each other, in all the limitless alternative realities out there.</p><p>This was inspired by a couple of lines in the blur song <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mc0idORNd10">Chemical World</a>, that go like this: <i>"Peeping Thomas has a very nice view / Across the street at the exhibitionist,"</i> and the title is from another line in the same song.</p><p>It's not that Nathan has a habit of spying on people, but when faced with a view of a naked Duke Crocker, well … he is only human.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Duke Crocker/Nathan Wuornos</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>60</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>24</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Nathan thanked the driver of the removal van and closed the door to his new apartment for the first time. He looked around at the still mostly-empty space; in the end he had hardly needed a whole van for the amount of stuff he had. Using a removal service had been more a function of the distance he'd moved than anything else because (apart from the sofa and desk) everything he owned would probably have fitted in a single taxi. But he shook off the complexities and decisions of moving; he was here now and it was nice to have a little more room than his last place.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It had been empty here for a few months before he moved in and it felt musty somehow, so he went from window to window opening each up wide to let in the fresh ocean air and then he started cleaning. With the kitchen and bathroom scrubbed to shining new and the living room floor swept, he turned his attentions to the two bedrooms. One would be the bedroom and one would be his study/gym, but they were a pretty similar size and shape, both with helpful fitted wardrobes, and he hadn't yet decided which would be which.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He stood at the window of one to take in the view. The building opposite was pretty close, but he was on the corner of the building here and only half of the view consisted of his neighbour's pink flowery drapes  - the other half looked across the bay to the ocean, sharing the view from the living room that had convinced him to take the place. This would work as a bedroom he thought; when the new bed was delivered tomorrow he would get them to set it up along the end wall, furthest from the neighbours. He might almost be able to see the ocean from his pillow he thought with a smile.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He moved to the other room; this one was further from the ocean and had a view partly of those pink flowery drapes, but mostly of another window that looked devoid of any dressing at all. It opened onto a stylish and elegant living room dotted with all different kinds of knickknacks that seemed to belong to someone well travelled and with a very different sense of style to the owner of that pink flowery fabric. Nathan felt himself drawn into the view for a moment; it looked really cosy in there, in contrast to his stark partly-furnished place. Then he turned his gaze to his own room, deciding that yes, this would work as the study, and went to move the desk from its temporary location straggling the kitchen and living room space.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He spent the rest of the day unpacking clothes, setting up the computer on the desk, and making a list of things he needed to buy; food, a chair to go with the desk, a coffee table and TV, weights to start his home gym and maybe a rowing machine or exercise bike, bookshelves, some pictures for the walls. He would need to buy a new computer before too long as well - a laptop maybe, to replace this slightly ancient desktop … he shook his head at himself and crossed out the last few items, he was getting ahead of himself. </span>
  <em>
    <span>One thing at a time</span>
  </em>
  <span>, he thought, </span>
  <em>
    <span>I'm getting carried away by that cosy living room across the street.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>After a quick break for a cup of coffee, he went back into the study to finish tidying up the computer cables and realised it was getting dark, and cold as well. He closed the window and as he reached across to close the drapes, his eye was drawn to that cosy living room again except now, it was no longer empty. Now, it was lit with a subtle collection of lamps and candles which served to perfectly illuminate the man practicing some yoga in the middle of the room, the carved wooden coffee table Nathan had been admiring earlier moved to one side for the purpose. Nathan was transfixed by the view before he even consciously realised why - this was a man who looked like he practiced yoga regularly, not just from the smooth and graceful way he moved through the routine, but from the tight and lean muscles he used to do it. This was a man who was used to a tattoo parlour as well; various images and words ran across his skin. And, this was also a man who liked to practice his yoga naked. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The soft light curled around him, accentuating the curves of the muscles in his arms, the movement of his shoulder blades under his skin, and the expansion of his ribs as he breathed. It looked to Nathan that the guy was around the same age as him, possibly also around the same height, hair drawn back in a careful ponytail at the base of his skull. Nathan took in the way the tattoos stood out against smooth, pale skin - hair-free (almost) everywhere - and the serene look of calm on his face as he concentrated on his practice.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Nathan did this with a growing sense of guilt because he knew he should close the drapes, but he was finding it hard to tear his gaze away. His neighbour came to standing, facing the window with his hands stretched high above him, and then brought his palms together in front of his chest, breathing with his eyes closed for a moment. Whether it was the end of his practice or just a pause, Nathan didn't know, but he did know the guy was likely to open his eyes any minute and that he should turn away - that he should in fact have done so already. But before he could even start to explain to himself why he hadn't, the yogi opened his eyes and looked directly at Nathan. Nathan expected to see embarrassment or anger, but when he saw Nathan watching, he just </span>
  <em>
    <span>grinned. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Nathan stepped back, alarmed at being discovered in something he hadn't intended to do, and quickly closed the drapes, catching just a glimpse of that grin developing into a delighted laugh as he did. He spent the rest of the day trying to work out whether it was better or worse that his neighbour was apparently not bothered by being watched. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The sofa was comfy enough for one night, but Nathan was glad the next morning once the bed was all set up and ready for a good night's sleep that night. He spent the rest of the day stocking up the kitchen and getting to know the neighbourhood a little. He had a good choice of supermarkets and takeaways, and he checked out the route to the bus stop that he would use to get into work when he started next week. He would spend some time working on his research in his study at home, but he was pleased to see it should be a decent enough journey to the university when he went in to lecture, work in the lab and meet with students. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He picked up a bus route map as well while he was out and dropped it on his desk when he got home. Some movement outside the window caught his eye (a bird? a leaf?) and he was about to turn away and back to the kitchen to sort out what he was going to eat that evening, but … now that his attention was drawn to the window his curiosity was peaked and he took a step closer to look across the street. They were on a slight hill here, meaning that he was just a little higher than the stylish place belonging to Naked Yoga Guy. This gave him a perfect view through the window to the carved coffee table now back in its place. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan told himself that he was absolutely not disappointed that the place was devoid of any sign of life today; he was glad in fact, because he should not be looking for any in the first place. For a moment he looked at the windows more closely - there really did not seem to be any sign of drapes or blinds or anything else attached to them. Maybe this place had been empty for longer than he'd realised and the guy opposite saw no reason to shield himself against an empty apartment. Maybe. Nathan pondered this, feeling his theory was lacking. As he stood there thinking and not really looking at anything at all, his eye caught another movement - Naked Yoga Guy was back, walking across the room with a bottle of beer this time and only marginally less naked than before. Watching him walk was almost more fascinating than the yoga positions had been: there was something about the way this guy moved. What did he do, Nathan wondered, was he a dancer or an athlete, maybe he … but then Nathan was jerked out of these thoughts by the realisation that he had been caught watching again. Naked Yoga Guy looked up at him and took a sip of beer and Nathan stared in mute shock for a moment before darting away. It was some hours later, Nathan dismayed by his slow thinking, that he realised maybe the lack of drapes and the guy's reaction to being watched were not a coincidence - the windows were left bare on purpose. He couldn't quite work out whether this should make him feel less guilty for watching, or more.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Over the next couple of days he got a desk chair, coffee table and TV set up, and sorted out a few other things on his list. He was making good progress getting settled in, so that evening he decided to try the bar on the corner. The Grey Gull was an odd name for a bar, he thought, but the place looked welcoming and cosy, with fairy lights strung around the place. It was all worn wood and knickknacks like it had formed itself out of drift wood and then been carefully decorated with things brought to it by the sea. It was actually, he thought as he took a seat at the bar, not entirely unlike the style of his yoga-loving neighbour. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Hello neighbour," said a cheerful voice approaching from his right.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan frowned in confusion and turned to see the barman ready to serve him, the barman smiling a welcoming greeting at him, the barman grinning a knowing grin at him really because the barman was in fact Naked Yoga Man himself.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan stared at him, wondering why he should be quite so surprised when the bar was afterall in the same building as the guy's apartment. Somehow it was only the fact that he was fully clothed that told Nathan this wasn't a dream. "Er, hello," he managed after a moment. "Um … I hope you don't… er... That is, I'm sorry, I…"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The barman laughed, not unkindly, at Nathan's awkward attempts at a self conscious apology. "Well </span>
  <em>
    <span>I</span>
  </em>
  <span> hope you </span>
  <em>
    <span>do</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and I really don't think I can blame you for the fact I never got around to putting up any drapes can I?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan smiled helplessly at him, not sure what he meant by the first part of that sentence but not sure how to ask.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"What're you drinking?" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Um … beer? What's good here?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The barman huffed at him. "If we are going to be neighbours, the first thing you need to know about my bar is that </span>
  <em>
    <span>everything</span>
  </em>
  <span> is good here."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"This is your place? It's nice," Nathan said easily, some of the awkwardness gone with a different kind of surprise.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Thanks. How about you try this," the barman offered, grabbing a bottle from beneath the bar. "New micro-brew from a few blocks away, just started stocking it."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan nodded an agreement. "Sounds good."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The barman slid the bottle across the bar towards him and Nathan was struck by the fact that even when he was standing still, even when the only part of him that was in motion was his hand, there was still </span>
  <em>
    <span>Something About The Way He Moved</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Something elegant, fascinating, something incredibly attractive. Or maybe it was just his hands and the waft of sandalwood that came with it. Suddenly Nathan realised he was at risk of an opportunity starting to slip away from him, and he marshalled his thoughts together just in time to grab hold of it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I'm Nathan," he said, holding out a hand.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Duke," replied the barman with a smile and a nicely firm handshake. "Nice to meet you neighbour."</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Over the next half an hour or so they chatted now and then as Nathan soaked up the atmosphere (and the surprisingly strong beer) and Duke served his other customers. In one of the lulls when Duke came back to his section of the bar, he nodded towards Nathan's mostly empty bottle, "How's that going down?" he asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan nodded, "Good."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You want another?" asked Duke, already reaching for it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan, thinking how he was technically on vacation until next week when he would suddenly get a lot busier, replied, "Sure."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You're new to the area then?" Duke asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"New to the state," Nathan confirmed. "Transferred to the forensics department here," he said, then belated realising that needed a little more detail added, "at the university. Forensic anthropology; new teaching post."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Ah, congratulations!" replied Duke, toasting him with the beer he had just opened for himself.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Thanks. Think it's going to work out. Nice to be by the sea. You always lived here?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke waggled his head from side to side in a way that Nathan found unexpectedly adorable. "Not </span>
  <em>
    <span>always</span>
  </em>
  <span> always. I grew up here, got as far away as I could as soon as I could, spent 15 years or so travelling round the world. I never planned to come back really, and when I did, I didn't intend to stay, but I found the life of a bar owner has some advantages. I inherited this place from my half-brother," he explained. "We weren’t close; I still don't know why he left it to me. I was going to sell it and move on but … I don't know. It felt … comfortable here in a way I hadn't expected it to. You know?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan was nodding to this last point. He did know. "The apartment come with the bar?" he asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke leaned forward a little with a grin that Nathan found slightly alarming, in a way that made his heart thump pleasantly against his ribcage. "No," he said. Nathan could not help but notice the different tone to his voice; lower, more intense, more… intimate. "It took me a while to find something close by, I tried a few places none of them seemed to stick. I should have known something in the same building would be a good option, but when I moved in I wasn't sure how long I'd stay there. Must be why I never got around to sorting out those drapes," he said, serious and somehow not, at the same time, eyes fixed on Nathan's all the while.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Must be," Nathan agreed. "Your other neighbours, they don't… mind?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"They're used to me," Duke said easily. "They know my schedule."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You have a sch-schedule?" Natthan asked, well aware that he had completely failed in his attempt to sound casual.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Keep an eye out, you'll pick it up soon enough," replied Duke with a wink and a grin. He went over to the other end of the bar to serve a group that had just arrived, leaving Nathan blinking in surprise at the space he had just left.</span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Nathan woke the next morning with a sore head, a resolution to order something different the next time he went in the Gull, and made the decision to take the day off. It was Friday today and on Monday he would start work - he deserved a day or two of relaxation, he decided. He went out in the morning to pick up some food, a coffee from the independent place round the corner that he already knew would be a firm favourite, and he stopped in the bookstore as well to pick up the current New Scientist, National Geographic, and a couple of novels plucked at random from the discount bin. He didn't often get much time to read for pleasure, so he was going to make the most of it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He opened up the living room window that faced out to the bay, and stretched out on the sofa with his coffee, pastries and selection of reading material. The fresh sea air made its way into the apartment, and he could just about hear the crash of the waves now and then, in between the hum of city life. It was perfect, he thought.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So much so that he hardly moved until late afternoon, making his way through a few interesting magazine articles and then getting surprisingly drawn into the first novel he'd picked up; something about vampires with a moon on the cover. It was ridiculous, but far enough away from real life that it drew him out of himself for a while, which is what he had wanted.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It got to that point again in the late afternoon when it was too cold to keep the window open, so he got up to close it and make himself another coffee. He was just taking the mug back to the sofa when he heard a crash from outside; was that a car crash? He looked down at the street from the study window and saw that yes, two cars had collided, the drivers stood in the road shouting at each other. Fortunately it was not a particularly busy road and it seemed clear that no one had been badly hurt. It didn't seem there was anything he should be trying to do to help. And so his gaze found its way instead to his neighbour's window; 'Duke', he reminded himself, not simply ‘Naked Yoga Guy’ any more.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The daylight was beginning to fade, but Duke's lamps and candles afforded the perfect view of the bar owner as he moved through his yoga poses, again having apparently felt that any kind of clothing would be an impediment to his movements. Even having seen this before, Nathan still felt he should turn away; he did not relish the feeling of spying on someone without their knowledge. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But, at the same time, their conversation of the night before was fresh in his mind - Duke had given him permission to watch, had suggested it even. And he obviously knew that he was on show, clearly did not have a problem with being seen.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>For a moment Nathan tried to imagine what that would be like; tried to put himself in that mindset. He tried, but he couldn't do it. It wasn't that he was overly self-conscious about his own body, but the thought of showing himself off to anyone and everyone was completely alien to him. He was more private than that. But he realised everyone was different. Since Duke was willing to be seen (more than just willing really), then why shouldn't Nathan take advantage?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He stood there at the window, fingers curled round the cup of coffee that he forgot to drink, and watched as Duke moved through a complicated-looking yoga sequence for half an hour or more. Duke was fit, Nathan thought, in more sense than one - there was no way he himself could manage half of those moves even with his regular gym visits. It was an impressive sight as well as a beautiful one, and Nathan watched intently until Duke stretched himself out on the floor in relaxation as his breath slowed down from his efforts. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke lay there, and Nathan watched and tried to rein in his imagination which was running wild now with Duke lying back naked, eyes closed, looking almost like he was waiting for something, for someone to join him, to really take full advantage of that beautiful body. Nathan tried to rein in his imagination for a moment or two, and then gave up, picturing his hands running over Duke's skin. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And then, almost as though Duke knew how he was being thought about, he sat up, cross legged, bowed to an imaginary teacher as though at the end of a class, and then stood looking straight out of the window to where Nathan was standing, with a little wave and a smile as though he had known Nathan would be there, or as though he had felt Nathan's eyes on him the whole time. Even as he hadn't wanted to watch without Duke's permission or knowledge, somehow Nathan found this thought somewhat unnerving as well. Even so, as their eyes met, Nathan's stomach did a little backflip in that moment; the pleasant kind. And though he couldn't quite bring himself to wave back, he held Duke's gaze until Duke laughed at Nathan's reaction and walked off.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was another puzzle about the man, Nathan thought, that Duke could laugh at him and yet somehow it didn't feel like an insult. It didn't feel belittling or aggressive or mean. It felt instead like an expression of delight and almost …. welcoming, like something with potential.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It was Sunday afternoon and Nathan was restless. He was starting his new job tomorrow which made him feel like he should be preparing for it, but in fact he had already done everything to prepare that he could, and so now he didn't know what to do with himself. He thought about heading down to the bay and taking a walk along the coast, but the weather had taken a turn for the worse and it didn't look quite so appealing today. So he found himself instead standing at his study window again, watching Duke sat naked and cross legged on his yoga mat, in what Nathan assumed was meditation. It was a good job his desk was far enough from the window that he didn't have this view when he was sat at it, he thought, or there would be no hope of him ever getting any work done. It did occur to him that possibly some meditation was what he needed himself right now, but he didn't think today was the best day to start trying to learn.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So, he watched. He took in the view of Duke's straight back, strong muscles and smooth skin, and he soaked up the atmosphere of relaxation that flowed off of Duke with each deep, regular inhaled breath.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan watched until Duke took one last deep breath and opened his eyes, and Nathan kept watching as Duke turned to his side and looked out the window at Nathan. Duke smiled, a warm hello, a 'nice to see you'. He shifted his weight onto one arm to turn to face Nathan more directly, and pointed at him. Then he made a little walking motion with his fingers, and then he pointed at the floor next to him. He was inviting Nathan over.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The invitation could not have come at a better time for Nathan. He pointed at his watch, and then held up five fingers; be five minutes. Duke nodded his understanding and then pointed at the floor again, held up two fingers, and then seven. Apartment 27? Nathan assumed so, was willing to risk it and so gave him a thumbs up. In any case, he knew which floor Duke was on, and counted the windows once he got outside just to get his bearings. When he got inside, he found that apartment number 27 made sense.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke answered the door almost as soon as Nathan finished knocking, and surprised Nathan as well by still being entirely naked. Duke laughed at his expression and as he stepped inside Nathan wondered again how being laughed at could feel so welcoming (was Duke laughing perhaps at himself as well?).</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan took in the apartment from this new angle; the kitchen units in the corner he hadn't seen before; two doors off to the side, presumably bathroom and bedroom. Duke walked over to the kitchen and offered him a beer. "You have questions," Duke pointed out as he handed the bottle to him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Well, I …" Nathan began, gesturing to the door somewhat helplessly. "... er … Practicing yoga in your own home where someone might happen to see you is one thing but … inviting someone in … doesn't it, make you … feel vulnerable?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke sipped his own beer as he thought about this. "I'm sure you could make me feel vulnerable if you tried," he began, Nathan thinking, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Could I?</span>
  </em>
  <span> and reeling slightly with how that had sounded almost like an invitation. "But no," Duke continued. "That's not really what this is about. You're right though that it's different with you here. It's more of a turn-on with you here."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan took a gulp of beer partly to play for time while he worked out how he was supposed to respond to that. "With </span>
  <em>
    <span>someone</span>
  </em>
  <span> here? Or with </span>
  <em>
    <span>me</span>
  </em>
  <span> here?" he asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You," Duke confirmed. "'Tall, Dark and Chiselled', that's how I thought of you until I knew your name was Nathan. And then I saw those blue, blue eyes. I do actually get dressed for most people who come over, you know." Duke's eyes roamed up and down Nathan's body as he was talking, in a way that left Nathan in very little doubt that he was sincere. "So yeah, it's you, it's a turn-on that you're here, this close, in my home with me, with my stuff, in my living room, kitchen. In my bedroom," he added, and there was no doubt at all that was an invitation for Nathan to follow him as he put down his beer and left the room.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan, feeling as though he were in a dream, took another gulp of beer as he followed Duke and stepped inside a bedroom that was if anything, even more stylish than the living space and which definitely held the biggest and most luxurious-looking bed Nathan had ever seen. The windows, Nathan quickly noticed, held carefully closed blinds which let in enough daylight to see by, but wouldn't give any neighbours a view. This was actually a completely private space, and he had been invited inside it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan paused just inside the doorway as Duke leant his long legs against the side of the bed and gestured around him, continued his sentence, "Inviting you inside, watching your reaction, showing you things you haven't seen before; it's definitely a turn-on," Duke finished as he reached for his hardening cock.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan felt his own skin flush and his fingers tighten around the beer bottle, and was sure that Duke was observant enough to see that his breath had quickened.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke rested one hand on the bed as he stroked himself with the other and asked, "Am I making you uncomfortable?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Not quite trusting himself to speak, Nathan shook his head, No.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke grinned, quick and sharp. This man had a whole selection of grins, Nathan thought to himself, and that had been one of genuine delight. He hadn't been sure how Nathan would react, and he was glad his gamble was paying off.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I love the way you look at me," Duke told him. "Not just like you want me but like, I'm too precious to touch."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It struck Nathan then that his reserved nature was doing him a favour for once. Not everyone would have reacted in the same way, he supposed, happy to stand there and watch, beer still in hand. It was as much a function of his own slight shyness and uncertainty as it was a reverence for the sight in front of him, but he didn't point this detail out to Duke. Other people might have wanted to step up to Duke and kiss him at this point, put their hands on him, but that wasn't what Duke wanted, not right now anyway - he wanted to be watched. And it wasn't entirely wrong what Duke said; the man was beautiful enough to be an ancient Greek statue; something to be handled only by trained professionals wearing special gloves for fear of tarnishing the delicate surface or chipping off some fragile detail.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>In any case, Nathan stood there and watched as Duke jerked himself off, their eyes roaming over each other's bodies in between Duke watching the look on Nathan's face, and Nathan watching the movement of Duke's hand.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After a moment or two, as the whole thing started to seem slightly less surreal, Nathan found the power of his voice again. "Could watch you all day," he said, matter-of-factly. It was easy to say because it was true.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah?" asked Duke, a breathless edge to his voice.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan felt his heart skip with the thought that he had the power to affect Duke just by talking to him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah," Nathan confirmed. "Watch you doing anything I reckon. Especially this."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah?" asked Duke again, voice hardly anything but breath this time. His eyes fluttered closed and Nathan thought he must be close.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Can't wait to watch you come," Nathan said, his own voice gone low and dark with arousal he realised.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And with that, Duke did; a wordless shout to the ceiling as he brought his other hand to himself and came over his fingers. He walked through the adjoining door into the bathroom and came back a moment later, drying his hands with a towel he threw on the bed as he came to stand nearer to Nathan.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"What now?" Duke asked, suddenly looking slightly more unsure of himself. "I mean, do you want …? I could …?" he offered, looking down as Nathan's crotch and making as though to kneel.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Um …" the tone of Nathan's voice stopped him. "It's not … er … I don't …." Nathan shook his head in his frustration to find the right words. It wasn't that he didn't want to exactly, it was just … too much? Too soon?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Hey it's OK," said Duke easily and picked up a pair of shorts. "Let's go finish that beer," he said pulling them on, and moved towards the kitchen.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I … yes," agreed Nathan, "But I want to explain."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke stopped to listen, and Nathan looked at the floor between them as he spoke. "It's not that I </span>
  <em>
    <span>don't</span>
  </em>
  <span> want to, more just that … I don't want to </span>
  <em>
    <span>now</span>
  </em>
  <span>," he said. "Don't often hook up with people I don't really know. Last relationship was kinda intense. Ended a while ago, it's true, but I've not …"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke's face softened with understanding. "Hey look," he said. "Some people like to go to bed with strangers, others hate the idea. You're in the second category - I get it, it's fine. We don't know each other very well, you just moved here, you're still settling in, new job and everything. It's a lot."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah, I … yeah I guess it is," replied Nathan, having not quite thought of it in those terms until that moment.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They nodded at each other, an understanding reached, and moved back into the kitchen where Duke retrieved his beer. "You're in the first category then?" asked Nathan, careful to make sure it didn't sound like an accusation, since he did not mean it as one. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke laughed, ducked his head to the side in an acknowledgment. "Yeah, yeah I am," he replied. "I suppose there's two kinds of sex, right? Well, I mean there's an infinite number of ways to have sex, but … there's sex that is part of an emotional bond and sex that isn't. And some people prefer one and some people prefer the other, but I have always been equally interested in both."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan nodded. "Makes sense," he replied. He wanted to ask Duke if he'd had a lot of partners, but the question felt a little redundant since it seemed clear the answer would be yes. And he kind of wanted to ask if Duke was seeing anyone at the moment, but that question felt like a bit of an imposition when he'd just turned down a blow job from him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"So anyway look, I like you," Duke said. "I like you as a pretty face across my bar, I like you as someone to chat to, I like the way you look at me. You want to watch me, that's cool with me, but it doesn't have to be anything more than that. Or we can just play it slow and see how it goes. I'm not seeing anyone else right now, just so you know. If I meet anyone, I'll let you know."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"That's … refreshingly clear and honest," Nathan admitted.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"One of the things I have learnt, about those two kinds of sex, is that the easiest way for things to go horribly wrong is for two people to having a differing understanding about which type it is that's happening."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan laughed in agreement then, "Yeah true."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke finished his beer and went to the fridge for another. "I was going to put a movie on, if you want to join me?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan looked at the offer of another beer, some easy-going company and the comfortable-looking sofa. "That sounds really nice," he replied. "Thanks."</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Having swapped numbers with Duke after the movie (the latest Fast &amp; Furious, which had been the perfect kind of mindless action for his mood that day), Nathan hadn't really expected to hear from him, at least not for a few days, not unless Duke was going to invite him over again. So he was pleasantly surprised the next morning when he got a text wishing him a good first day at the new job.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It wasn't that he was particularly nervous; he would be doing the same kind of work as at his last place, and he was comfortable enough in what he would be doing. But it was like he'd said to Duke; his last relationship had been kind of intense, and he'd struggled to get out of its shadow while he'd stayed in the same town. This whole move had been less about his career (though it certainly wasn't a sacrifice in that sense) and more about the relocation; a clean slate to reboot the rest of his life. It had been a deliberate choice to move somewhere where he knew no one, and to cut ties with the few shaky friendships he'd maintained before. He'd wanted that clean slate but it did have the downside that he might have had no one to talk to about his first day in a new institution. That one little text told him he had a friend, and he was glad of it, even if he didn't think he'd ever be telling his new co-workers exactly how they'd met.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And now it was two weeks later and he was heading over to Duke's for a Sunday afternoon movie again. </span>
  <em>
    <span>You pick the movie, I'll bring the beer,</span>
  </em>
  <span> he'd suggested, happy to assume that Duke's taste in cinema was probably as worldly, eclectic, interesting and stylish as his taste in home furnishings. As he knocked on Duke's door he realised two things; he wasn't sure whether to expect Duke to answer it naked or clothed, and he wasn't sure which he was hoping for.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As it turned out, Duke had gone for a sort of inbetween option - a pair of board shorts slung so slow low on his hips they were hardly on at all. In a way it was almost more distracting than if he had been naked and he knew Duke had seen him looking. But he was starting to get used to the fact that that was OK.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan stepped into the kitchen and got out the beers and snacks he had brought, Duke checking them over with a professional eye. "Good choice," he declared.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"What's the movie?" Nathan asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Attack the Block," Duke replied, and when Nathan shrugged at him, he offered a bit more information. "There were a group of Brits in the bar raving about it. Seems to be basically; aliens invade London and the Londoners sort them out before the authorities even know what's happening."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Ha! OK cool," replied Nathan. It sounded different enough from Fast &amp; Furious to be interesting, but not so obscure as to be hard to follow. "'Block' though?" he asked. "I thought they didn't have city 'blocks' in London."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke slipped smoothly into what sounded to Nathan like a flawless British accent, "</span>
  <em>
    <span>'Tower block mate, </span>
  </em>
  <b>
    <em>tower</em>
  </b>
  <em>
    <span> block; this is </span>
  </em>
  <b>
    <em>real</em>
  </b>
  <em>
    <span> London, this is how people </span>
  </em>
  <b>
    <em>live</em>
  </b>
  <em>
    <span>, not all that Downton Abbey bollocks. Perfect antidote for anyone who thinks Britain's all Wills and bloody Kate.'</span>
  </em>
  <span>"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan laughed, impressed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"That was what I spent half of Thursday night listening to, but they made a good case for the movie. Of course, they did have to concede that the alien monsters were slightly less '</span>
  <em>
    <span>real London' </span>
  </em>
  <span>than the rest of it, but then that just set them off about how well done the special effects are on a budget. Oh and apparently it's got the woman from Doctor Who and the guy from Star Wars in it."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>This last part struck Nathan as spectacularly vague, but he figured he would find out which particular woman and which particular guy when he watched it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You ever been to London?" Nathan asked as he sat down on the sofa with his beer.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I only managed a few days there, but yes. Mostly saw the inside of pubs to be honest; the Brits definitely know how to drink, I'll given them that. This guy in the bar spent the other half the night lamenting the lack of cider."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You stock cider," Nathan objected. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke slipped back into that British accent again and leaned forward, wobbling slightly as though drunk, "</span>
  <em>
    <span>'No mate, cider, actual </span>
  </em>
  <b>
    <em>cider </em>
  </b>
  <em>
    <span>cider, alcoholic like; fermented apple juice, not just your juiced apple juice. You've got all your fancy micro-brews and whatnot, but you want to get yourself some proper English cider in here. Or French, that'd do. Get yourself some Scrumpy, or some Aspell's, or even some Strongbow or Bulmers but…'</span>
  </em>
  <span> and he was very keen to impress this last point on me, </span>
  <em>
    <span>'... do not - and I cannot emphasise this enough - go anywhere near White Lightning.'</span>
  </em>
  <span>"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan laughed. "White Lightning doesn't sound that appealing as a drink name, gotta say."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"He was very insistent on it; wrote all the names down for me. I might look into it, but I think the reason you don't find those things in bars here is because they're not made here. Not sure it'll be worth shipping stuff over from Europe just for the occasional drunk tourist who might happen by."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Makes sense," agreed Nathan.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke settled on the sofa next to him and turned on the movie. Duke had sat himself at a point on the sofa where they were almost touching but not quite. Nathan felt like if they both breathed in at the same time, their sides would touch. It wasn't a bad feeling.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>In the two weeks since he had first been over here, they had texted each other now and then, and though Nathan had had slightly less time to spend gazing out of his window, he had still caught a few displays of naked yoga, meditation, or Duke lounging around on the sofa reading. He had still enjoyed the view, and Duke had still enjoyed being watched. Duke had enjoyed it enough on one occasion in fact that he had walked up to the window with his hand snaking suggestively down his stomach so that Nathan had thought him about to jerk off right there. But then Duke had glanced around him to the wider view outside beyond Nathan's window and reached for his phone instead, pointing it at Nathan before walking off towards the bedroom.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan had gone into the kitchen to retrieve his cell phone from his bag, and it was ringing before he even got hold of it, so that he saw it was a video call only as he answered it, the realisation making his heart miss a beat.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He got a brief, shaky view of Duke's bedroom as the phone moved around, and then Duke's face was on screen for a moment before the view started to travel down his body. "Wanna watch?" asked Duke.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah," replied Nathan, knowing that he sounded kind of breathless with anticipation already but not sure that he cared. In a way there was something about watching over a screen that was almost more intimate than when he'd been in the room himself.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The movement of the camera stablished and Duke stepped back from it (presumably having propped it up on the bed) until his body filled the screen, perfectly framed. He was hard already, ran a hand down his chest and stomach to take hold of himself. For his part, Nathan reached out to the wall - so that he could make his way into the bedroom without taking his eyes off the screen.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Got a good view?" Duke asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah," Nathan replied, then told himself to use more than that one word. "You're beautiful. Every single inch of you is gorgeous."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke looked down at himself for a moment, as though assessing the truth of that, watching himself, or perhaps even imaging Nathan was there, he didn't know. Duke looked back up and noticed the background change behind Nathan as he moved into the dimly lit bedroom with its closed drapes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Where are you?" asked Duke.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Bedroom," Nathan replied, after a moment's hesitation.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He could almost see Duke thinking that through; </span>
  <em>
    <span>He moved into the bedroom to watch.</span>
  </em>
  <span> He could see what conclusion Duke was coming to and he might have felt annoyed about it if Duke hadn't been right. He was already pushing his pants down as Duke asked, "You going to join in?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah," replied Nathan, the camera held specifically so as to still show only his face. "Course I am." </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke bit his lip at that, Nathan noticed and wondered if Duke would ask to watch him too, but he didn't. They looked at each other in the eye instead, passing occasional compliments back and forth. Nathan found that while he didn't want to give Duke a full view, he was happy to talk and to let him hear his enjoyment. And Duke seemed to like the moans and gasps he made, triggered afterall by Duke doing the same thing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It could have felt like a race to orgasm, but it didn't. Afterwards when Nathan saw how long the call had been, he was surprised it wasn't longer. It felt at the time like they had spent a long time breathing gasps of pleasure at each other through the screen. Duke came first and Nathan swore as he watched him, pushed over the edge himself by the look on Duke's face, and surprised then by the extent of the sounds he heard himself make.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That had been a week ago, and now here they were sat next to each other on the sofa, close enough to touch, close enough for Nathan to breathe in that sandalwood scent that seemed to follow Duke around.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan made a conscious effort to turn his attention from the warm body next to him and to the TV screen in front of him. The movie sounded interesting and he didn't want to miss it.</span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So, I wrote the section here about cider on the basis of a vague impression that America does not really do cider in quite the same way that England does (for context, if it's not already obvious, I am English), but that is really as far as my knowledge goes. So, if I have misrepresented America's knowledge of cider I apologise, but while I'm not sure how accurate it is, I do think that it is fun, so I decided to leave it in. And I can't really see Nathan or Duke being big cider drinkers anyway to be honest, especially these slightly more urban versions of them.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>An hour and a half later, they were agreeing with the drunk Brits that the special effects had indeed been very effective, and that it was definitely a good movie. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Good choice," Nathan told him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah, maybe I should take movie recommendations from drunk customers more often," Duke replied, only half-joking Nathan thought.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They chatted about movies for a while; it seemed they had similar tastes, though Duke had seen more international films while he'd been travelling than Nathan had. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When the conversation hit a lull and Duke got up to get them more beers, Nathan took the opportunity to ask something that had been bothering him all week.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Can I change the subject completely and ask you something personal?" asked Nathan.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Sure, of course," replied Duke.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Last week when we … um, when you called me. That video call?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke smiled as he sank back down on the sofa, "I remember."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I just wondered why you, moved away from the window."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You were disappointed?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"No," Nathan responded honestly. "It was … good like that. Just curious."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke sat back on the sofa, all serious for a moment. "Well, look, I am not completely insensitive to the fact that not everyone wants to see a naked guy jerking off out their window. You have the best view, but others might see as well. Sitting around or exercising is one thing - the human body is just the human body. We all have one afterall, it shouldn't be anything to be ashamed of. But when it comes to something like that, something sexual then - not everyone wants to see that. It's not fair to impose that on random people who haven't asked for it. Consent is a thing, an important thing. I have no interest in ignoring anyone's right not be subjected to something sexual they haven't consented to."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan felt his cheeks flush, embarrassed at having to have something so basic explained to him. "Sorry," he said quickly. "I didn't mean … I guess I was so caught up in just me and you, I didn't quite think of other people as well. I didn't mean to insult you."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke smiled at him, "It's alright. I will admit that there have been occasions in the past where I have not thought that through either. Learned that lesson the hard way."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan opened his mouth to ask the question but Duke cut him off. "Long story," he shook his head. "I'll tell you another time."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Fair enough," replied Nathan.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke sat forward again, his serious expression gone, replaced by that much more intimate one. He was so communicative of his moods, Nathan thought. Not just with his words and his voice, but his facial expressions, his mannerisms, body movements; everything. He wondered how much of it was deliberate and decided that, in situations such as this, probably most of it was. Duke had changed the mood with his shift of body weight and change of expression. He looked directly at Nathan, his expression soft and his voice low, and he was flirting before he even opened his mouth.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You had fun on that call then, huh?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan nodded. "You know I did," he said, his voice barely above a whisper for reasons that were not deliberate at all.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You want to try the same thing in person?" he asked, with a nod towards the bedroom. "Watch each other?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan's stomach flipped around inside him several times. Did he? Did he want that? His physical reaction was sudden enough that he actually had to concentrate to sort the nerves from the arousal. He cleared his throat, shifted his weight on the sofa, sure that his nerves at least were on show. Duke watched him, studying his reaction but simply watching him; not saying anything, not pressuring him, just, waiting for a response. Being watched by Duke was not a bad thing, he realised.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan nodded. "Yeah, I … yes," he replied.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke didn't say another word, just turned and walked towards the bedroom, stepping out of his shorts on the way. Nathan took a big gulp of beer and followed, not remotely surprised to find Duke was wearing nothing underneath them. Last time they had been here the bedroom door had stood open but now Nathan closed it softly behind him. Since that left the room dimly lit, he clicked on the light. Duke was already standing in the same spot at the side of the bed as before, and so Nathan came to stand at the foot of it, the bed forming a partial barrier between them that came up to their thighs. He had been right in his initial assumption he realised; they were a very similar height to each other.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He watched as Duke grew hard and took hold of himself, distantly wondering why that specifically was quite such a turn-on. But that wasn't the thing to think about right now - the fact was, he felt turned on and so he acted on it, undoing his belt and flies and pulling his clothing away far enough that he could take hold of his own fully hard cock. If Duke was disappointed that he kept his clothes on, he didn't show it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>This was a very specific kind of thing, Nathan thought and, not something he had done before. As they looked into each other's eyes the whole time, it was intimate in a way that actually going to bed together might not have been, and yet they had not once touched each other, besides that handshake in the bar. It was thrilling to find they could have such an effect on each other from a distance; what would it be like when they did actually get their hands on each other, their mouths? Nathan surprised himself with the </span>
  <em>
    <span>when</span>
  </em>
  <span> in that thought - no </span>
  <em>
    <span>if</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Was he changing how he thought about this already?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan felt his skin thrumming, and wondered what it felt like for Duke, with his skin open to the air. Before he could give himself a reason to be nervous about it, he stopped what he was doing and quickly pulled his t-shirt over his head.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke's eyes lit up. "You look good," he said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan looked over the sight in front of him, from Duke's warm and interested face, to his collarbone, the shape of his chest, the muscles in his arm as it moved.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You look amazing," he said with feeling, and Duke grinned.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Afterwards, Nathan would reflect that it should have felt stranger than it did. He had never done that before (well obviously, he had done </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span>, just not with anyone watching), and it had been a good long while since he had shared any kind of sexual experience with anyone. He would have thought the unexpectedness of it would make him feel odd and self conscious, but it didn't in the end, it felt nothing but right.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And apparently Duke felt along similar lines because neither of them lasted very long. The intimacy of watching, seeing their whole bodies, holding each other's gaze with eyes open; even without actually touching, it was a lot.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Come with me," Duke said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Wh….?" managed Nathan. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah, come </span>
  <em>
    <span>with</span>
  </em>
  <span> me. Together."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Just a moment before that Nathan would have said he had a way to go yet, but this concept alone took him almost the whole way there. "'m close," he said a moment later.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah," Duke breathed. "Me too."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Can see it in your face," Nathan told him after a moment.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Fuck," muttered Duke, this scrutiny from Nathan pushing him over the edge at the thought of being so thoroughly </span>
  <em>
    <span>seen</span>
  </em>
  <span>, his eyes fluttering closed as he came.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And fuck but if that wasn't a rush of power, seeing the effect his words had on Duke, enough to push Nathan over the edge as well a moment later, muttered obscenities from both of them mingling together in the air over the bed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke flopped down on the bed, Nathan and his shaky legs glad of the fact he could lean against it. Duke reached over and tossed him a box of tissues from by the bed. "Bathroom's through there if you want to …" Duke offered vaguely with a wave of his hand, then sank back into something that almost looked like sleep. But when Nathan came out of the bathroom to pick up his t-shirt, Duke was sitting back up wide awake. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"D'you wanna stay for another beer?" asked Duke as he got up and disappeared into the bathroom, not waiting for answer.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Sure," Nathan called after him. Considering this was only the second time Nathan had been here, he felt surprisingly at home as he went to the kitchen to open a couple beers. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I could get used to this,</span>
  </em>
  <span> he thought.</span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The next time Nathan saw Duke was in the Gull, Nathan having been drawn to its cosy atmosphere after a day at work. It wasn't that he'd had a bad day - he loved his work and the new job was going well. But the brightly-lit rooms he tended to inhabit at the university were inevitably the opposite of cosy, and his still sparsely furnished apartment was not yet much different.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Where'd you get your knickknacks?" Nathan asked Duke when he got the chance between customers. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Well, a lot of them I brought back from overseas, but some came from the antiques market here in town."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"There's an antiques market?" asked Nathan, interested. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke looked surprised. "I didn't peg you for an antiques kind of a guy," he said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I'm not really just, didn't bring a lot of stuff with me when I moved. Hardly got any pictures on the walls yet, the place looks bare. Not as cosy as here, or your place."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Ah, fair enough," said Duke with a smile, happy at the implied compliment to his bar. "So yeah, there's an antiques market once a month. Although, they call it that but it's not all 'Antiques' exactly. There are some local artists too, all kinds of stuff."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Sounds perfect!"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I'll look out the details for you. We'll go together if you like?" offered Duke, waving an acknowledgement to a waiting customer and looking to Nathan for an answer.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Sounds really nice," Nathan responded. "Thanks."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Barely 20 minutes into their shopping trip and Nathan was already adding a little stone sculpture to the four framed photographs in his bag. "This'll go on my new bookshelves," he said happily.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke smiled back at him, pleased his suggestion had been a good one. "You said you'd like some artwork to go with those photos right? Let’s see if Vickie's here."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"She paints?" asked Nathan.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Sketches mostly. Some watercolours. A lot of really atmospheric stuff, I think you'll like it."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And Duke was right about that as well - Nathan came away with three sketched landscapes, including a lighthouse that had called to him from the moment he saw it. It was stuck out on a long promontory of land, clinging to the rocks like it was afraid of getting knocked down. They'd had a really interesting conversation with Vickie too and heard how she was inspired by the fragility of life, even landscapes she said. "Take this lighthouse, these rocks even, it looks like they'll be there forever but who knows? All kinds of things could happen and they'd be gone or changed forever. The more I draw, the more versions of things there are to endure in a different way, you know?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan had nodded agreement - he wasn't sure he quite followed all of it, but a lot of what she'd said made sense to him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"How about some lunch?" Duke suggested a little later. "There's usually a stall over here does the most amazing French crepes."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan insisted on paying to thank Duke for showing him the market and they sat happily munching crepes stuffed with ham, spinach and french goats cheese.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"These're really good," mumbled Nathan happily between mouthfuls.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke laughed, pleased, "Have I stumbled across your favourite food first time?" he asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan tried not to place too much significance on how warm his heart felt at the implication Duke was interested in his favourite food and replied, "Doesn't quite beat a proper pancake but it's close."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke laughed again, in that soft inviting (cosy) way that Nathan was beginning to love, and looked down at the extensive collection of bags and boxes at their feet. "I don't think you can possibly buy anything else or we won't be able to get it home, but we have to see if Dwight's here before we leave. He's a sculptor," Duke added. "He carves wood with chainsaws."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan raised his eyebrows at that, picturing some massive viking-like creature wielding a chainsaw with a manic glint in his eye. He was amused then to discover that in large part he'd been right; Dwight was huge, taller than either of them and with more muscle than both of them combined, his blond hair curled round his shoulders and he moved huge pieces of wood around his studio space as though they weighed nothing. There was even an axe tucked in his belt. There was no manic glint about him though - in fact he seemed to be one of the calmest people Nathan had ever met, which struck him as a good thing, what with the chainsaws and all.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And Dwight clearly knew how to use them because the sculptures were beautiful, a whole range of things from figures and animals to abstract constructions, Nathan was awed by all of them. It seemed unlikely he would buy anything though (since most of the sculptures were at least as big as the man who had made them), until Dwight pointed to an unobtrusive shelf at the side of the space.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"If you're looking for something smaller, I've been experimenting with a pen knife," Dwight told them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>These 'experiments' were just as beautiful as their full size cousins, but a much more manageable size for Nathan's apartment. His eye was immediately drawn to a little abstract sphere, intricately carved out of a dark wood, layers of hexagons structuring themselves into its spherical shape. Nathan picked it up, turning it over and over in his hands. "I'll take this one," he said, before he'd even looked at the price.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>With only one more (unplanned) stop during which Nathan picked up a blanket for his sofa, they declared the shopping trip a success and made their way back across town.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"If you've got the time," Nathan began somewhat hesitantly, "Your opinion on where to put some of this stuff would be very welcome."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke nodded. "Sure. Tracy's covering the bar tonight, I don't need to go in today. And I'm kind of curious to see your place, I have to admit."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Great, thanks."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke laughed his infectious laugh as he walked into the living room, "Yeah I can see why you wanted to buy stuff; you really didn't bring much with you, did you?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Nope," replied Nathan happily. "Just the essentials really. The move was a bit of a clean start. Reboot my life or something."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah? How's that going so far?" Duke asked, turning to look at Nathan with a touch of that intimate intensity he had.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan lost his voice with the charge that gave the air, but found it again after a moment. "Yeah pretty well," he ventured. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke just smiled and nodded and turned to look at the space again. "That carving you got from Dwight would look good on the shelf by the window," he suggested.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When Nathan tried it out he found Duke was right, and they spent the next little while happily positioning knickknacks and hanging up pictures until the place looked much more like a home.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Thanks," said Nathan. "That's much better."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah it really is," said Duke with a cheeky smile.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You want to stay for a beer? Could put a movie on, order some food."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah that'd be nice," replied Duke, then added enthusiastically, "Have you tried the Mexican place on the corner yet? The whole menu is delicious!"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan smiled, "Guess I don't need to ask about your favourite food."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Well, I'll eat anything that's well made, but yeah can't go wrong with a bit of Mexican."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Mexican it is," said Nathan and pulled the menu from a drawer in the kitchen.</span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Stuffed full of delicious food washed down with beer and ten minutes into a generic horror movie that did not seem like it would demand too much concentration, Nathan slipped his shoes off and relaxed into the sofa feeling supremely content. Duke was already barefoot, feet tucked up on the sofa with him and as Nathan shifted position so did he, bringing his feet together and letting his knees fall out to the side where one rested on the arm of the sofa and the other rested on Nathan's thigh. It rested there for a moment and then Duke moved it away with a little, "Sorry."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan reached out and put his leg back where it had been. "It's fine," he told him, leaving his hand resting on Duke's knee.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke accepted this without comment, choosing to remark on the movie instead, "No, don't </span>
  <em>
    <span>Go Outside On Your Own</span>
  </em>
  <span>! You are clearly going to </span>
  <em>
    <span>die</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Why is it that characters in horror movies seem to have never seen a horror movie before in their lives?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Because then there would be no movie?" Nathan suggested, amused. "'Sensible People Stay Inside and Phone Police', doesn't seem to have much of a ring to it as movie pitches go."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Well yeah, OK, if you're going to be all logical about it," Duke joked, bumping his shoulder against Nathan's. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"What gets me is when they don't tell each other things they would clearly tell each other," Nathan suggested, getting more into the spirit of the Have A Go At The Movie game.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Right? That's another thing," Duke agreed. "Vital and incredibly surprising pieces of information that they just don't tell each other simply because the audience doesn't need to hear it again."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Did you ever watch Lost?" asked Nathan. "Was terrible for that, drove me mad."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I haven't seen it but I hear it made no sense."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"It really, really didn't. At all."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Oh my god don't </span>
  <em>
    <span>split up</span>
  </em>
  <span>, you've already lost half your group, are you trying to make it easy for them?" Duke appealed to the characters on screen and hid his head in mock horror against Nathan's shoulder.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan laughed, partly amused at Duke's joking around, partly pleased at the opportunity to snuggle up. "OK I'm calling it," said Nathan, tapping Duke on the shoulder for emphasis. "Only people left alive at the end'll be this guy and the blonde woman."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Well she's getting a good deal out of it then; all she's done is scream," Duke pointed out. "He's the only one out of all of them with any sense."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Exactly. Which is why he's going to survive. And he'll want to save her because they had that little Moment back at the beginning."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Oh yeah, so they did. So wow is that all it takes? Men are so shallow, huh?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Speak for yourself," Nathan joked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke turned towards him, abandoning all pretence of paying attention to the screen. "Yeah you have your shallow side too I reckon. You were watching me before you even knew my name."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Well but you were all … naked," objected Nathan, somewhat helplessly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Is that all it takes then, a little bit of nudity and you're anyone's?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Not </span>
  <em>
    <span>anyone's</span>
  </em>
  <span>," objected Nathan, leaving the unsaid implication hanging in the air.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke pulled himself up and around to straddle Nathan on the sofa, knees either side of Nathan's hips. Nathan looked up at him and rested his hands on Duke's thighs, and when Duke bent down for a kiss, Nathan was ready to return it. Duke kissed him softly, gently, and pulled away after a moment. Nathan reached up to Duke's shoulders and pulled him back down for more.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kissing Duke was exactly as good as he'd thought it would be; soft, strong, gentle, firm - that hint of sandalwood enveloping him along with the taste of Duke's skin. Their lips fell over each other and tongues pushed against each other and Nathan lost all sense of time until Duke pulled away. Nathan, breathless and flushed already he knew, looked up at Duke who glanced over to the window and its view of the sea and the sky. "You really aren't overlooked at all," he noted, and pulled off his t-shirt.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan ran his palms up Duke's back and pulled him close for another kiss, moving his hands up into Duke's hair. Duke pulled out of the kiss to arch his head into Nathan's touch, "That feels great."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A shame though it was for the kiss to end, it did afford him the chance to watch the expressions of pleasure on Duke's face as he ran his fingers over Duke's scalp, neck and shoulders. He was so expressive, it was beautiful to see and Nathan got that little rush of power again, that he could affect Duke so; that </span>
  <em>
    <span>he</span>
  </em>
  <span> could do </span>
  <em>
    <span>this</span>
  </em>
  <span> to this </span>
  <em>
    <span>beautiful</span>
  </em>
  <span> man.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan shifted around with a hand against Duke's back to lie Duke down along the sofa, Nathan knelt between his knees and Duke stretched out underneath him. "Don't think you'll object if I get rid of these," said Nathan as he reached for Duke's shorts. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Correct," confirmed Duke with a laugh, helping Nathan out and kicking them to the floor. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan ran his hands down Duke's chest. "Lie back and let me watch you," he said, his hands dipping past Duke's belly button. "Let me see on your face how it feels."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Fuck Nate, I love how you talk to me," Duke said with feeling. He stretched back out along the sofa with a happy moan as Nathan's hands ran over his skin, closed his eyes and folded his hands under his head. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Emboldened by this praise Nathan carried on. He had never been much for talk like this during sex before but then of course, he had never been with Duke Crocker before. "Want to see it on your face when I touch you," he said. "Want to see you lose yourself, want to see you come, want to see you, see what I can do to you, want to see you."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan took hold of Duke's cock then, one hand travelling back up his stomach and chest, palm pressed against skin as though to hold him down. Duke's face was a picture already; head thrown back, eyes screwed shut, mouth alternately open or with his lip bitten between his teeth. He curled his fingers against his neck and muttered encouragements to Nathan between his moans of pleasure. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And Nathan? Nathan found that he didn't want it to end. He felt that he could have spent the rest of the night watching Duke writhe underneath him. "So gorgeous," Nathan told him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Tell me what you like," Duke asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>What I have to pick one thing?</span>
  </em>
  <span> Nathan thought. He struggled for a moment, but encouraged by Duke's enthusiasm found he managed to be more articulate in this situation than he expected. "Your body, so strong and supple. The line of your collar bone, the set of your belly button. The expression on your face right now, and how it changes when I do </span>
  <em>
    <span>this</span>
  </em>
  <span> …: he said as he rasped a fingernail over a nipple. "Your hair fallen out of your ponytail and how …" Nathan paused to search for the right word - 'desperate' was too strong, though the thought of that made his heart skip a beat, "... eager for my touch you are."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Fuck I love your voice Nate, I love the things you say to me," Duke opened his eyes for a moment then. "The way you look at me."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I love looking at you," Nathan told him as he moved a hand from Duke's stomach to his balls, squeezing in time with his other hand stroking Duke's cock. "Love seeing your breathing gone ragged, hearing you moan. Gonna watch you come Duke, gonna watch you, I love to see you come."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Fuck Nate, god," Duke was becoming less coherent as his breathing came harder and faster. His hips pulsed upwards underneath Nathan's hands and Nathan was tempted to drag it out, see how long he could make Duke wait, how far he could push it and what sounds he would make when eager turned into desperate. But that seemed like too much for the first time they had ever touched each other, so he followed the rhythm of Duke's stuttering hips and marvelled with his own gasps of pleasure at the expression on Duke's face as he orgasmed, calling Nathan's name again mixed in with incoherent obscenities, "Nate fuck god that's… fuck Nate yes."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan watched Duke's face relax and the pulse of his hips slow as he came down from that peak. Duke laughed then - literally laughed in delight - and ran his hands through his hair. He looked up at Nathan with a grin, "That was …" He gave up looking for the right word and pushed himself up to sitting to kiss Nathan instead. The kiss quickly grew more heated and Duke pushed forward further so that, with a little wriggling, they got Nathan lying back on the sofa now, Duke pressed against his fully clothed body.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You can obviously say no if you want," Duke began between kisses. "And I promise I am adult enough not to hold it against you," he added. "But I would really like to strip you naked and kiss you all over. Good idea? Or bad idea?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan took a moment to get his brain in gear and communicating with his mouth properly. "Good idea," he said happily. "Yes, good," he agreed as Duke pulled at his t-shirt and started to undo his jeans. Between them they made short work of Nathan's clothes and then Duke pressed their naked bodies together, lying on top of Nathan in a deep and lazy kiss. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Brief incongruous thoughts about how glad he was to have a sofa big enough to make this comfortable ran through Nathan's mind but he ignored them, concentrating instead on the weight of Duke's body against his and the feel of Duke's tongue in his mouth.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke pulled away just far enough to ask, "Should we be thinking about condoms if I go down on you? I'm clean, got tested recently, but it's OK if you want …"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"No that's … I'm clean, too. All tested. Some in the bathroom if you want but ... don't need to."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"In that case lie back and let me make you feel amazing. And you just tell me if there's anything you want more of," Duke suggested as he moved his kisses along Nathan's jaw to his ear and then down his neck. He took his time, planting warm wet kisses all over Nathan's skin, licking and nipping at his nipples and running his fingers over Nathan's ribs.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Before long coherent thought escaped Nathan completely and he lost himself in the sensations of touch and his body, dimly aware that the shouts and moans and gasps and pleas for more that he could hear must be his own, but not really caring. It had been a long time since anyone had touched him like this (a long time since anyone had touched him at all) and after all that build up with Duke as well when orgasm came the relief as it hit was amazing. His whole body tensed, he heard himself swear as waves of pleasure pulsed through him and then Duke was kissing him again, soft and slow, carrying him back down through the end of his orgasm.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Amazing," said Nathan breathless, not trusting himself to manage another word.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>On the screen behind them the movie was coming to an end, everyone dead except a blonde woman gazing adoringly at the man who saved her from the nameless horror. They looked at the screen, looked at each other and burst out laughing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Told you," said Nathan.</span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Nathan sat down at the bar in the Gull after an irritating day, and ordered his now usual beer from someone behind the bar he didn't know. He was sat in the same seat as well, he realised; was he developing a regular bar stool as well? Perhaps he should make the effort to sit somewhere different next time he came in.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He was pulled out of these thoughts by a hand on his shoulder and a kiss on the cheek as Duke took the seat next to him. "Hey, this is nice. Been here long?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"No, haven't even tasted my beer yet," Nathan replied.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke glanced behind the bar with a wave to his staff. "Did you meet Tracy? Hey Tracy!" When Nathan shook his head, Duke waved her over. "This is Nathan, Nathan this is Tracy."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Nice to meet you!" she said, very happy to be meeting what could just be a casual acquaintance unless Duke had told her about him. The thought Duke might have been talking about Nathan made him feel unexpectedly welcome and warm inside. He still didn't quite know exactly what this relationship was, or what he wanted it to be, but perhaps that warm feeling was a good sign.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Pass me one of those Tracy," Duke said with a nod to Nathan's beer. "I'm about due for a break."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Busy day?" asked Nathan.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Stock taking," said Duke heavily. "Always takes about three times as long as I think it should."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Ah," replied Nathan with sympathy. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"How's your day been?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan sighed. "Mostly dealing with university bureaucracy. Everything takes three times as long as you think it should."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Ha! Well maybe our jobs have more in common than we thought."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And so they spent a pleasant half hour discussing the frustrations of their day, and Nathan felt his shoulders start to relax.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke drained the last of his beer. "Right I'm going to have to get back to it unfortunately. Will you forgive me for abandoning you?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I should think so," Nathan deadpanned with a little half smile. "See you at the weekend?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Absolut- wait no, I can't. I'm out of town for a few days. Combination of seeing an old friend and checking out some new suppliers. I'm thinking of expanding the range of food we do, but it needs to be interesting if it's going to compete with all the other places round here. Got to find the right suppliers if it's going to work."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Sounds interesting. You can tell me all about it when you're back."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke smiled at him. "Yes indeed I will. OK I gotta go. Just one very important question for you."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The tone of Duke's voice told him this was not so important as all that really, but still he looked at Duke warily. "What's that?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Are we people who kiss each other in public?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan smiled, and for an answer reached forward and kissed Duke thoroughly. Pulling away he asked, "That answer your question?" and was pleased to see the slightly dazed look on Duke's face as he struggled for the words to reply.</span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter 12</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It was Sunday afternoon and Nathan had just stepped out of the shower after a workout when his phone buzzed. Rubbing a towel through his hair, he picked it up to see a message from Duke; [want to help me test my new webcam?]</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan blinked at the message for a moment, trying to think of a witty reply, and when he realised he wasn't going to, simply sent back; [yes]. There was little doubt in his mind that Duke's webcam did not really need testing (possibly was not even actually new), but whatever the specifics of what Duke had in mind, Nathan's answer would be the same. [Skype me], he added, and pulled on a bath robe to go and turn on the computer. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Hey," said Duke once they were connected. "Whatcha doing?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Just tested out the new rowing machine," Nathan told him. "Where are you?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"My hotel room. That old friend I mentioned is the manager here - set me up in one of the luxury rooms. It's nice, look," Duke said and showed Nathan a view of the spacious and stylishly furnished room, beautiful views over some distant mountains, sunlight glinting off the private balcony. Nathan caught a few glimpses of Duke himself through the shifting camera, wearing nothing but those board shorts again. "I'm meeting him for a meal later but in the meantime I have all this luxury to myself and no one to show off to."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan laughed. "You're a peacock."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah you love it," Duke grinned. "And, I haven't even shown you the best part yet, look at this." Nathan's view shifted towards the balcony, folding glass doors wide open to let in the view.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"What floor are you on?" Nathan asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"15th. The view's amazing," Duke told him, making a detour to show him the mountains in more detail and the view straight down towards the hotel swimming pool and bar. And then the view shifted again as Duke turned along the balcony and into another open doorway to the most luxurious bathroom Nathan had ever seen. "The luxury suites on the ground floor open straight out to their own little sections of the pool. Harder to do that up here so they went all out on the bathrooms instead. Gigantic bath, enormous shower. The toilet's back there in it's own little separate room. These windows go opaque with the flick of a switch," he finished turning the view through 180 degrees from the shower back to the mountains again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Let me guess," suggested Nathan. "You have no intention of hitting that switch."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You know me so well," Duke acknowledged. "I wasn't sure if you'd be around so I was thinking about a bit of yoga if you didn't answer," he added. There was something about the way he said this that caught Nathan's attention. Casual, very casual but also not, at the same time. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There was something he couldn't quite decipher in there, but whatever it was, Nathan wasn't going to pass up the opportunity. "Don't let me stop you," he said, his own voice tight with anticipation he noticed, since it seemed unlikely that yoga was all that Duke had planned.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke grinned a fierce grin at him and went back into the bedroom where he set the laptop and its camera up on something that gave it a perfect view of the space in front the bed. Almost like Duke had checked it out beforehand, Nathan thought, smiling to himself as Duke tossed those board shorts onto the bed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan angled the monitor to avoid the glare of the daylight from the window and settled down to watch the beautiful view. Duke's exhibitionist tendencies were a bit of a puzzle to him because while sex obviously came into it, it seemed clear it wasnt just about that. For Duke it was just about being watched or seen in a more general sense as well; he gave every impression of being serious about his yoga practice right now (something that he did take seriously, after all). He was calm and focused on his breathing as he moved through the sequence, there was no sign he was turned on by this. He just liked being watched.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan tried again to put himself in that mindset, but he could barely imagine what it would be like to be simply comfortable with that level of scrutiny, let alone to actively seek it out. For his own part, while he had got over a lot of his shyness since he had left home, as a child he had avoided attention of any kind. Probably because, he fully recognised, it had often come with criticism of some kind or another. Had Duke's childhood maybe had a different kind of issue, he wondered? Had Duke struggled to get any attention at all?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan deliberately stepped away from that line of thought, since he didn't want to make assumptions. For now, what he knew at the moment was enough; he knew that he liked Duke. He liked his company, he liked the way he looked, and he liked the fact that Duke liked Nathan looking at him. The specific reasons behind that (if there even were any) did not necessarily matter, and did not affect the fact that the two of them seemed to fit together pretty well. He stepped away from that thought as well, not wanting to rush ahead of himself and take his thoughts to a place he wasn't sure he was ready to go. He hadn't been looking for a relationship, and he didn't want to ruin this by overthinking it. Luckily, there was a very appealing image on the screen in front of him to distract him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And so Nathan lost himself in the view on the screen, and grew hard underneath his robe as he let his mind wander in a different direction. After a while, Duke finished his sequence of movements and stretched out on the floor for the brief period of meditation he always finished with, and Nathan watched the rhythm of his breathing slow back down. He surprised Nathan then by speaking before he moved. "You still there?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Course I'm still here. You're gorgeous," he told him. "Love the way you move."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke grinned, then sat up and leant forward to look him right in the eye. "Wanna join me for a shower?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan nodded his enthusiasm, and Duke laughed that wonderful laugh of his. The view jumped and shifted as Duke moved the laptop. "Hopefully you won't get too steamed up," he said, meaning the laptop, or the camera lens.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Kinda steamed up already over here," Nathan confessed, and Duke's affectionate laugh was louder than ever.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When the webcam view settled it looked like the laptop was next to the sink; a curve of shiny faucet was visible in one corner of the screen, then the spacious shower, and then a glimpse of the mountains out the window. It was so different from the shower cubicles Nathan was used to as to be almost funny. This thing was bigger than his whole bathroom; all sleek stone and clear glass. The shower head was one of those giant overhead ones, probably as big as Nathan's whole shower cubicle, fixed near the ceiling to release a wide shower of water straight downwards onto whoever might be lucky enough to be standing there. There was no door to it, just the glass wall that extended long enough to shield the rest of the room from the spray. There was a hook for a towel or bathrobe on the wall there, but Duke evidently had no interest in either.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The combination of the ceiling lights and the daylight from the floor-to-ceiling windows meant that Duke was perfectly lit as he stepped into the fall of water, turning his face up into the spray. The shower head was wide enough it covered all of him in water at once, but he turned this way and that anyway, as though to let the water hit all of him. What he was actually doing of course, was giving Nathan the perfect view of the water as it ran over his skin; chest and stomach and ass as legs and shoulders. It looked like a soft and gentle shower, the water running softly over him, hugging the curves of his body.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke stepped out of the spray to work shampoo into his hair, and Nathan watched as the trail of soap suds ran lazily down Duke's spine to the curve of his ass. He stepped back into the water to rinse his hair clean and as he soaped up his body instead, Nathan watched transfixed. It wasn't even just that he was a gorgeous man in the shower - he knew how to show himself off. He knew how to show off without looking like he was showing off. He knew how to make himself look good without it becoming obvious enough to look silly. The man was a marvel, Nathan thought.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The next time Duke turned around towards the camera, Nathan saw he was hard, erection pushing up through the water just waiting to be touched. Duke turned to the side a little so he was partly facing the camera and partly facing out the window, put one hand on the glass wall of the shower, shifted his face down out of the spray, and took hold of himself with his free hand.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan drew closer to the screen, studying every inch of the image to fix it in his memory. And then, as he could see the muscles along Duke's body tense in the run up to orgasm, he took hold of his own erection as well, aching for attention under his bathrobe.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He jerked himself off as he watched Duke come with fingers tensing against the glass as though to grip onto something that was not there. He flicked his wrist as he watched Duke stand in the spray of water for a long moment after, enjoying the feel of the water over his skin presumably, and also no doubt the thought of Nathan's eyes on him. He gripped his fingers tighter as Duke turned off the spray and walked over to the camera, and as Duke looked in him in the eye and asked, "That good for you?" he came.</span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Chapter 13</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Nathan had arrived at the lecture hall early and was shifting through his notes as the first students made their way inside. When he had first started lecturing, he had struggled with it. It had taken him a while to find his feet but he had done it by finding a kind of lecturer persona - it wasn't him at the front of the room being listened to, not his whole self. It was simply the knowledge of those he had read and the things he had been taught - he was just a conduit for the subject matter. And so, as he shifted into the mindset now as more students made their way into the room, it was something of a shock to have one of them ask him about his life outside the university.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I wanted to return this book you loaned me."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Thank you Carole, I hope it was useful?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"It was, thank you. But I also wanted to ask you, are you dating the smuggler at the Gull?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Am I what?" asked Nathan, thrown by the sudden change of topic as well as the nature of the question. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Smuggler? </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Dating," his student said, as though explaining a complicated concept. "The owner of The Grey Gull, on King Street. We were in there last week and you were …"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan frowned at her in consternation, "Thought you were old enough to realise your teachers have a life outside school."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She shook her head, black curls flying every which way. "No, it's not that. It's just, is he really a smuggler?" she asked, eyes alight with the mystery and intrigue of the idea.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Having no idea how to answer that, Nathan's only recourse was to change the subject. Fortunately, it was time for class to start and the room was filling up. "If you're interested in detective work, Professor Howard's class is down the hall," he told her firmly. "In this class we're learning about decomposition rates of human remains," and he turned to his notes to start the lecture.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The next day he called in the Gull for a drink on his way home. Duke kissed him hello across the bar as Tracy made affectionate jokes about the two love birds and kept on top of serving the other customers so they could talk.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I had the strangest conversation with one of my students yesterday," Nathan told him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Oh? Unfortunate career plans?" Duke asked, amused.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan shook his head, "She asked if we were dating, but she was only interested in that because she wanted to know if you were 'really a smuggler'."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Ah shit, Nathan I'm sorry. I thought that had all died down by now."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"What's the story?" asked Nathan, curious.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke sighed and opened a beer for himself. "My dad, basically. He was the smuggler that got this place a reputation. He used it as a front for his 'import / export' work. I always wanted to get away from here, for as long as I could remember, wanted to get away from him. But I realised pretty young that I needed money to do that. So, I took a leaf out of his book for a while in high school; a bit of underage alcohol, a few fake IDs, nothing major. Or," he added, "nothing that seemed like a particularly big deal at the time. It was enough to get myself a name for it, but I didn't care about that when I was going to be leaving anyway. I worked in here as well, which dad usually remembered to pay me for. And I saved all of it. Absolutely all of it, never spent anything I didn't have to. And then, once I turned 18, I left. Hitched down the coast, got a job in a bar, spent a few months there, then moved on again. Kept moving on, worked my way around the world."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I'd like to hear more about your travels some time," Nathan offered in the pause that Duke left.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke nodded absently and returned to the story of the bar. "By all accounts Dad was doing alright for himself for a while but then something went wrong, I don't know, but they say it was the smuggling that got him killed. Some disagreement with the wrong people. Then Wade took over the bar (my half brother), and the smuggling as well." Duke sighed again, reluctant to talk about an unpleasant topic.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Sorry," Nathan cut in. "Didn't mean to bring up painful memories."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"It's not your fault people are asking you stuff. The thing was, Wade hadn't grown up here and he had no idea what he was doing, with the bar or the smuggling. But he tried to act like the big crime boss anyway, and it was </span>
  <em>
    <span>definitely </span>
  </em>
  <span>the smuggling that got him killed."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Ah, sorry," said Nathan again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Well, he was an idiot. But I always wondered whether if I'd been here I could have saved him from himself. I didn't know what he was up to; I was in Goa at the time." Duke paused, shaking his head and taking a long pull of beer. "When I found he'd left the bar to me, I couldn't quite bring myself to sell it. I could have just let it run with the same staff; let them get on with what they were doing. But I knew that would include stuff that might get them killed and I couldn't cope with that on my conscience. So in the end I shut the place down for a month, helped them find new jobs elsewhere, hired new people and reopened with a big 'Under New Management' sign outside. Anyone comes in here looking for Wade or my dad I tell them I don't know what they're talking about. I'd thought it had been long enough for the smuggling talk to die down, but I guess rumours have a long half life."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan nodded again. "Yeah, that's true," he said. He'd experienced that himself in a less dramatic fashion.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"So, that's the potted history. Any questions?" Duke offered. He did so with a heavy tone to his voice, obviously expecting something like, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Why didn't you tell me?</span>
  </em>
  <span> Or </span>
  <em>
    <span>How can I date a criminal?</span>
  </em>
  <span> But Nathan had no reason to doubt any of Duke's story. He'd spent enough time in here and not seen any sign of any illegal dealings; the atmosphere in here just wasn't like that. And he had no problem with the fact Duke hadn't laid all this out before; they hadn't got to the </span>
  <em>
    <span>Tell me your life story</span>
  </em>
  <span> stage of their relationship yet. He didn't need to accuse Duke of anything. "What was Goa like?" he asked, intrigued. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke's grin was sharp and sudden, and Nathan thought it might be his favourite look he'd put on Duke's face yet.</span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Chapter 14</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Work got busy for a while, for both of them. For Nathan because it was just that time of year, and for Duke because he was working on a new menu for the bar. They talked across the bar some evenings, texted and chatted and video called each other now and then, and of course Nathan still had that view of Duke's living room, and Duke was still prone to showing off. For Nathan it was a slight slowing down of things that was enforced but not entirely unwelcome. He felt like he needed the space to get his head round the idea of a relationship again. It seemed like they were starting something really promising and he didn't want to mess it up by jumping in too quick. But one of the nicest things about it was that it felt like even if it didn't work out as a fully fledged relationship, they would probably still manage to stay friends, and that was worth a lot, Nathan thought.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was the week after the end of the semester, and while Nathan's research continued, things had calmed down in terms of his work with the undergraduate students that sometimes took up a lot of his time. He spent Saturday catching up on some sleep and quiet time at home, but by Sunday lunch time he was itching to do something. When he texted Duke to suggest a movie, Duke replied that he was busy working on the new menu, and invited him round to the kitchen at the Gull to help taste some samples. Which turned out to be a great idea as far as Nathan was concerned, because everything Duke was considering for the new menu was delicious.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was the quiet in inbetween time that was too late for lunch and too early for the evening rush and so they had the kitchen to themselves as they handed each other samples of things and raved about the benefits of everything. Duke had already tasted everything once by the time Nathan got there, so he didn't need to be overly serious or organised about it. They had a lot of fun in fact, even as Nathan's comments seemed to help Duke narrow down his choices. It was nice, in a domestic kind of way, and it brought Nathan back to thoughts of what this thing between them was.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After he helped Duke clear away and tidy up, Duke passed him a beer from the fridge and Nathan decided to broach the topic. "Wondering if we should have a conversation. About us," he added. "Or, that is …" Duke waited for him to finish, a twinkle of amusement in his eye, and Nathan carried on. "Should we talk about what this is. Where we're going. Avoid misunderstandings."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke nodded. "This hasn't really gone how you expected, has it?" he asked, curious.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Wasn't expecting anything. Wasn't… sure I was ready for anything but, this … is nice."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke laughed. "Yeah it is," he agreed, and pulled Nathan into a hug. "I like you, Nathan Wuornos, and like I said before I'm not seeing anyone else, so how about we make it official. Exclusive? Boyfriends?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah I… think I'd like that," Nathan replied. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Chapter 15</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The next Sunday they planned for a movie at Duke's place, but never quite got around to putting it on, distracted instead by talk of travelling adventures (in Duke's case) and decomposition horror stories (in Nathan's).</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"So Australia was where you learnt to scuba dive?" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yes," agreed Duke. "Well, I had done some before in Europe, but Australia was where I got certified to teach. I still did some bar work sometimes but scuba instructor was a good way to see some interesting places."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah I bet!" agreed Nathan, grabbing another handful of the popcorn he had bought to accompany the movie they would probably get around to putting on at some point.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Parts of Asia are so beautiful, you wouldn't believe."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"And, wait, you were teaching English as a Second Language then as well? Or that was earlier?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"That was mostly earlier," Duke replied, shifting Nathan's leg out of the way as he reached forward to grab his beer, then putting it back in its position across his lap. "I did my ESL course here, then used it to get myself over to Europe. I'd started learning sign language here as well, though I never found much opportunity to make use of that. I've probably forgotten more than I learned to be honest. But teaching English was really interesting, and a lot of the people I taught were really happy to teach me some of their own language in return. Address the balance a bit, you know? And a lot of them had come from Asia, so I had a head start on some of those languages before I got there."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Impressive," Nathan replied. "I can barely manage two words in anything besides English."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah but you know all that science language. Bet you know a lot of Latin," Duke countered.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah, that's true I guess. Still, impressive all the things you've done."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Are you kidding? You helped identify a body that had been buried for what, 27 years? You gave that family some closure. That's amazing!" said Duke with a friendly punch to Nathan's arm.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Perhaps we're both awesome," Nathan conceded after a moment.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke nodded as he laughed. "Yeah that could be true," he agreed. "So, do you want to put this movie on, or…?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His manner hardly changed really, but there was a subtle shift in the way he held himself, the way he used his voice, the way he looked at Nathan. A subtle but significant shift that Nathan was beginning to love.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Actually," said Nathan, brushing popcorn crumbs from his fingers. "Am thinking I'd like to kiss you senseless."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You read my mind," Duke told him happily.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Half an hour later they had moved from the sofa to the bed, scattering clothes behind them as they went. Somehow, having acknowledged their relationship made this feel different, Nathan thought; they were in less of a hurry. They had spent minutes at a time just kissing and even now they were naked and in bed there was no rush to orgasm. They were simply enjoying each other.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan pressed his knees against the side of Duke's hips, and Duke stretched out on the bed underneath him, raising his hands over his head. Nathan saw an opportunity there and he went for it, leaning forward to grasp Duke's wrists in one hand. Duke stretched into his grip, his eyes closed, relaxed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Was thinking," Nathan began, stretching Duke's arms just a little further above his head. "Of holding you still, so I can … really watch you. See your reactions to, whatever I do with you. Good idea? Bad idea?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke's eyes snapped open and he looked up at Nathan with an expression Nathan could not decipher at all. Nathan shifted his weight back so he could let Duke's wrists go, "Too much? Sorry, I …"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke found his voice then, "No. Not too much," he said, and Nathan could hear the arousal in his voice.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan shifted back, gripped Duke's wrists and pressed them into the mattress. "Say stop and I will," he promised. "Tell me no and I'll let go. But, if you're happy here then I think …" Nathan peppered his sentence with kisses, against Duke's mouth, neck, ear ... "... I'd like to watch your beautiful expressive face …" Nathan's tongue flicked lightly over a nipple… "... to find out how ticklish you are. And …" … he licked a line up the centre of Duke's chest … "... to </span>
  <em>
    <span>see</span>
  </em>
  <span> how you feel about being teased."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The answers to those questions, as Nathan quickly discovered, was </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘really very ticklish indeed’</span>
  </em>
  <span> and </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘incredibly fucking turned on by’</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When Nathan thought back on it the next evening (because there was plenty to think back on) he would wonder a little that he had managed to take control in quite the way he had; that he had not been more self conscious about it. But then really what was there to be self conscious about when they both fit together so well, when they were both having so much fun?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>In that moment when he told Duke he was going to tease him, he curled his fingers round Duke's wrists and pressed his palm tight to his skin and he could feel Duke's pulse there, the blood thudding hard through his body. Duke looked up at him, that indecipherable expression, and Nathan looked forward to finding out what was behind it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You good?" asked Nathan. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah," breathed Duke as though it should have been obvious; as though it was the understatement of the year.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And then, Nathan played with touching him in every ticklish teasing way he could think of, and he relished the way Duke squirmed between Nathan's legs, the expressions on his face, the sounds he made and the way his breathing quickly descended into ragged gasps. He knew that part of the reason this was working for Duke was that Nathan was right there watching him, studying his reactions, and so he made sure to tell him so, frequently and specifically.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Love the way your breath hitches when I do </span>
  <em>
    <span>this</span>
  </em>
  <span>."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Or, "You are so beautiful with your head thrown back like that."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And, "I am going to have so much fun watching you when I finally make you come."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And, "Gonna keep you just a breath away from coming for as long as I can. Just a moment away, a flick of the wrist away. Love the look on your face when you are so, so close."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan half expected Duke to break then, to ask for more or to be let go, but he didn't; he just soaked it all up, revelled in the attention and Nathan's touch. And underneath all the sensuality of it, Nathan got a little kick out of the power of that, the way Duke was willing to wait for him, to hand control over to him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was a little awkward at times, keeping one hand in place to hold Duke still, but it also kept Nathan close to him which was part of what made the whole thing work it seemed to him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You're close," Nathan pointed out, as he brushed the tip of his fingers over the head of Duke's cock. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"y-y-ye…" Duke managed through closed eyes and stuttered breath, the pleasure evident in his face and his voice. He would hardly need to touch him again. Nathan wanted to be at that point with him, and that gave him an idea.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Hold on, wait for me," he told Duke. "Gonna make us come together," he said as he moved his hand to his own cock, a familiar flick of the wrist bringing him up towards Duke's point of near orgasm.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke's eyes snapped open to look at Nathan then, that indecipherable look on his face again, a kind of helpless awe.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah," Nathan told him. "Make you come soon, gonna … make … together," his sentence collapsed as he found it harder and harder to talk at the same time as he pulled himself up to orgasm, the look on Duke's face searing into him all the while; a pleasant kind of burn.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He shifted off of Duke's hips to lie across one side of his body, moving his hands a little further down Duke's wrists so he had space to line their hips up. He wanted to talk again, wanted to say something in this moment, but he couldn't; it was too much. He moved his hips to Duke's, pressing their cocks together and wrapped his hand around both of them; palm against Duke's shaft, fingers curling round his. And he moved his hand then, but honestly couldn't tell whether his hand was moving around their cocks or they were fucking into his hand; both of them so close to orgasm that their hips jerked forward of their own accord and it was only moments until their orgasms hit within seconds of each other, frantic hip thrusts against his hand and between their stomachs as they moaned against each other's mouths for long blissful moments before collapsing together into a sticky happy mess.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan let the last pulses of his hips fade and then rolled off of Duke to lie by his side, leaving one hand resting on Duke's hip. "OK?" he asked, suddenly worried he might have been uncomfortably heavy on half of Duke's body.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke murmured what sounded like an affirmative, and slowly shifted his arms down, shifting to his side to wrap one around Nathan's waist.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"'OK'?" he echoed in disbelief. "That was … fuck Nate that was fucking amazing," Duke said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah?" said Nathan, feeling not a little pleased with himself. "Yeah it was for me too."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke reached across to plant a soft kiss on Nathan's cheek and they rolled a little closer into each other's body heat, leaving Nathan feeling thoroughly relaxed and at home. That was the first night he stayed over at Duke's place and even as he was dropping off to sleep he knew that it wouldn't be the last.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Chapter 16</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It was Thursday night and Nathan couldn't sleep. It wasn't a problem he had often, but when it hit, it really hit. Frustratingly there was no obvious reason for it; it was just a usual week like any other. He lay in bed in the dark, staring at his ceiling and trying to sleep for a long time before he realised that </span>
  <em>
    <span>trying</span>
  </em>
  <span> to sleep was not getting him anywhere. So he told himself to give up on it and just take the rest of lying in bed instead, and decided to let his mind wander.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His mind did not so much wander however, as march itself straight back to Sunday evening and the feel of Duke trapped happily between his legs. The way he had squirmed so dramatically in response to Nathan's ticklish touches that Nathan's body had been shifted this way and that above him. The way his breathing had quickly come deep and fast and ragged. The way he had bitten his lip, thrown his head back, screwed his eyes shut; the indescribable look of bliss on his face. The feel of it in Nathan's hand when he had taken hold of their cocks together; hard and warm and sticky, hips pulsing them into his hand and against their stomachs. The shouts and moans of bliss that Duke had breathed into his own as their mouths rested a breath away from each other, too taken over by their pleasure to manage to actually kiss. The whole thing had been so hot, such a turn on, but it had felt close as well, intimate in a way that added to the feeling of ecstasy, the two enforcing each other.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alone in his bed in the dark, Nathan replayed the whole thing in his head, and when he got to that point, reached down his body to jerk himself off again. It wasn't exactly quite the same thing as before, but it was still enough to make him cry out as he came. And it had also been enough, he realised when he woke in the morning, to help him drop off to sleep.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Chapter 17</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>He called in at the Gull after work on Friday, knowing Duke would be too busy to spend much time with, but going for the atmosphere of the place anyway. There were a few other regulars he was getting to know, and even on the occasions he simply sat at the bar by himself, the music was good, the beer was good, it was a nice atmosphere. He liked it in there even when Duke wasn't around.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke found a few minutes to chat though as he cleaned and put away a stack of glasses, and they stole a kiss across the bar when he arrived.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Was thinking about you last night," Nathan told him, the buzz of the bar around them enough to hide their conversation from the crowd. "Was thinking about Sunday."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke smirked at him, "You know what? So was I," he confessed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They smiled knowing smiles at each other for a moment. Nathan coughed and shifted on his bar stool. Duke leaned forward, voice gone low and intense, "We could have both been …" he tilted his head and raised his eyebrows as he looked suggestively down to groin level, "... er … </span>
  <em>
    <span>thinking</span>
  </em>
  <span> about each other at the same time," he pointed out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan felt his cheeks flush. "Should have called you," he said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He saw Duke's knuckles tightened in the dishcloth he held. He didn't think he'd ever been able to turn someone on quite so quickly and suddenly as he seemed to be able to with Duke.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke lowered his voice even further, so that Nathan had to lean forward to hear. "There's an office back here, you know. Lock on the door and everything," he said this lightly, conversationally, but his eyes were anything but casual.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan nodded, and moments later found himself inside the little room; desk, chair, filing cabinet, noticeboard. Not that he spent much time taking in these details because Duke was closing and locking the door, pushing Nathan's back against it and dropping to his knees in front of him, pulling at his belt.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Duke," Nathan breathed happily, and then gave up on coherent thought for a while as Duke went down on him. They hadn't done this so many times yet, but Duke was practiced enough in general that it felt like he knew Nathan inside and out, knew exactly how to move to make it feel amazing. Nathan's hands scrabbled at the door behind him, searching for something to hold on to, and he bit his lip to try and mute his cries of pleasure as he came.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And then Nathan did up his belt with shaky hands, and stepped forwards on shaky legs to gently push a grinning Duke backwards until his legs hit the chair and he sat down. Nathan knelt between his legs and between them they pulled at Duke's jeans until Nathan was dipping his head to take Duke's eager cock into his mouth. He ran a hand up Duke's chest under his tshirt, and felt Duke's fingers lightly caressing his hair. Nathan did not feel as practiced at this as Duke evidently was. It seemed to him like one area where technique made a big difference and he was nervous of not giving Duke something he enjoyed. He concentrated on what he was doing, tried to replicate some of the things Duke had done to him. It seemed to be enough anyway, because it was not too long until Duke was happily calling his name.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan sat back on his heels as Duke did himself back up. "Was that …?" he began hesitantly. "Not sure I'm so good -"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Nathan," Duke cut him off firmly. "You have </span>
  <em>
    <span>nothing</span>
  </em>
  <span> to worry about." He pulled Nathan up with him as he stood up and pulled him into a kiss. "God I wish I could spend the rest of the evening with you, but I have a bar to run."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Sorry. Shouldn't have distracted you."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Do </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>be sorry. You can distract me whenever you want. Just … I have to work."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Oh yeah, I know. Just gonna have one more beer and then head home for an early night," Nathan told him. "Didn't get much sleep last night," he added as they left the room.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah?" Duke asked, amused. "That good a memory was it?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You know it was," replied Nathan.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Chapter 18</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The next time Nathan was at Duke's place, Duke pulled out his laptop. "I've got a confession to make," he said. "I swear I wasn't thinking of it at the time."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan looked at him warily. "Of what?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"The security cameras in the Gull cover the office. We're on film."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan raised his eyebrows at him, thinking through the implications.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I got them put in when I first reopened, more for show than anything - to mark the difference from the shady way my dad did things. I've never had to actually use them as security, they just sit there unnoticed. And I've never … taken anyone into the office like that before. I know it looks bad, but I swear I would never intentionally put you on film without you knowing. Or in a position to be seen without telling you. Once I realised I knew I had to tell you."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan opened his mouth to speak but didn't really know what to say. He looked at the laptop. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I've got the footage here, I haven't watched it, I just … I don't know I thought, full disclosure you might want to see it. It doesn't go anywhere else," Duke added hastily. "It's not a monitored feed or anything, it just records and sits there. No one has seen this. And there’s no sound recorded."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan stared at the laptop for a moment and then looked back at Duke. For various different reasons he didn't doubt that the apology was genuine, that it was unintentional that they had been filmed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I … um. Don't like the idea of being filmed, gotta say. But thank you for telling me. Appreciate you being honest," he said, and he saw Duke relax a little. Duke had been afraid perhaps that Nathan would not believe him, would end things with him over this. But he had told him anyway, and that honesty meant a lot.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Not sure how I feel about watching myself, but … if you have it there … put it on and let's see."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Sure?" Duke asked. "I nearly deleted it, but then if there does come a reason the tapes need to be checked and there's a portion missing, that's … that's about the most suspicious thing I could do."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah I get that," Nathan replied after a moment. "How long do you keep the footage normally?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Six months then it gets recorded over."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"OK well let's just hope there's no reason to check this day in the next six months," Nathan said, only half joking. "Put it on."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They sat down in front of the screen and Duke hit play. There was a view of the empty office for a moment before the door opened and Nathan saw himself on screen. It was an odd feeling, seeing himself from afar. "Look dazed already," he said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You look hot, is what you look," Duke countered.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They watched the rest of it in silence and once they left the office again, Duke stopped the playback and closed the screen.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Guess we do look good together," Nathan acknowledged. "You … like watching yourself?" he asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke shook his head slowly, "No, that's not really … no. If I was going to choose to use a camera it would be so others could watch me at the time. I wouldn't be interested in watching the footage."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan nodded, recognised how glad he was to hear that. "I don't like that this exists," he said. "But it could have been worse."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I am sorry, honestly Nathan. And just to be clear, there is nothing else of us that's recorded. I do have a webcam here, obviously, but it has never been on while you've been here. I know that's just my thing - being watched, showing off - I wouldn't expect you to … I would never drag you into that. It's obviously total fine that you're not into that, I - "</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Duke," Nathan cut him off with an affection smile.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Right, I was babbling. Sorry. I do that sometimes when I'm nervous. I just don't want you to think I would try to make you into something you're not. It's totally not a -"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Duke," said Nathan again. "It's OK. It's not </span>
  <em>
    <span>good</span>
  </em>
  <span>, but it's OK. I appreciate you being honest and telling me. I didn't exactly enjoy watching that, but I appreciate knowing it exists."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah, hey of course," said Duke, reaching out to touch Nathan's arm. "Of course I would tell you. None of this works without honestly."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"And that's why it's OK," Nathan told him.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Chapter 19</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Two months later and Sunday afternoons had become their thing. Duke would work the lunch shift, and Nathan would come over to his around 4pm. They would put a movie on, get some take out, and pull each other's close off after (or often before) it ended. Before they'd met, Duke would often have worked Sunday evenings, but though it could be busy it was usually fairly calm and uneventful, and he was only a phone call and a couple minutes away if he was needed. "This is what you have staff for, right?" he said to Nathan one day. "What's the point in being the boss if you can't take some time out?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan had toasted this sentiment with a clink of their beer bottles, wondering briefly at the nature of Duke's financial situation. Sometimes he seemed very frugal, other times it seemed like maybe he actually had a fair amount of money in the bank. Nathan wondered if those saving habits from high school had carried through so that most of his money still went into a savings account. He didn't ask though; it was none of his business. However well things were going between them, he was in no hurry to disrupt it with talk of moving in together or sharing a bank account, particularly when they kept such different work schedules and lived so close to each other anyway.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Today, they were stretched out on the sofa, their feet in each other's laps, in front of an inoffensive movie that was not doing much to grab either of their attention. It was cosy and comfortable and Nathan purred under his breath as Duke rubbed absently at one of his feet.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke's phone buzzed and he smiled when he read the message. "Remember that hotel with a view of the mountains that my old friend manages? I asked Bill to keep an eye out for any last minute availability, see if we could get a cheap deal on a weekend away. (He’s out of the friends and family allowance for the year that he used for me before.) He's just texted to say they've had a cancellation for next weekend - that place usually gets booked up months in advance, so that's super late notice for them. So there's a room on the 15th floor for us for at discount price next weekend if we want it. He says it has a view of the mountains; it might even be the same one I stayed in before."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Remember the shower better than I remember the mountains," Nathan admitted.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke laughed his bright and sparkling laugh. "Yeah that one. You want to go?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan did not have to think about it. "Yes," he said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan dropped his bag on the bed on the 15th floor, "Looks the same as what I saw through the webcam."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah I think I was a couple doors along before, but basically yes; same thing. Same view, same balcony. Same bathroom," he added.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan made a pretence of checking out the view from the balcony for a moment, but he quickly turned back to the bathroom. "This room is a work of art," he said. "Or at least, it is when it has you in it," he added, pulling Duke to him and wrapping his arms round Duke's waist.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"So are you remotely interested in checking out the city, or you just want to use me for my body?" Duke asked happily.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan laughed. "We're meeting Bill for some food later, right? Seems only polite to shower off the journey before I meet your friend."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke smiled and kissed him, then stripped off his clothes and hit a switch on the wall. The floor to ceiling glass turned opaque and the view of the mountains disappeared. "This high up, the risk seems low enough," Nathan told him, and hit the switch to turn the glass clear again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Sure?" Duke asked. "It's OK if …" but he stopped short his objections as Nathan stripped naked as well and walked over to the shower.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"How does this even work, there's like 50 different buttons," he asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Here," said Duke softly and turned on the spray.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan stepped into it and turned his face up to feel the water hitting his skin. "Good shower," he said. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Nice view," Duke told him and Nathan looked over to see Duke getting hard already. Duke stepped into the shower with him and pressed their bodies together for a kiss, Nathan quickly getting hard as well as Duke's hands ran over his back and their tongues pushed together through the rain of water.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Nice kiss," murmured Nathan. He looked over Duke's shoulder at the view for a moment, then put his hands on Duke's shoulders and turned him around to face it as well. "Look at the view," he suggested. "It's beautiful."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke mumbled an agreement, but might have been about to turn back around if Nathan hadn't reached down to his cock. Duke let out a sigh of pleasure and rested his hands on the glass in front of him, Nathan's other hand running over his chest.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan stroked Duke's erection and pressed his body tight to Duke's back. He put his head to Duke's shoulder, mouth by his ear and talked to him in a low voice. "We're not on the 15th floor."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"We're not?" asked Duke, surprised.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"We're out on a cliff, by a nature trail with a view over the mountains. Such a nice view people walk by here all the time."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"They do?" asked Duke, voice gone small, low and breathy.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Uh, huh. All kinds of people come for a walk right by here. We're in a little clearing, nothing to hide behind. Someone could walk by any moment."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"God, Nate," Duke mumbled, his fingers gripping for purchase against the slick glass. Duke only called him Nate when they were having sex, he realised with a little thrill.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Can hear people walking through the woods towards us right now," Nathan added, quickening the movement of his hand and pressing his palm against Duke's chest as though to hold him up. "Just round the corner. They're going to come out of the woods any minute and find us, discover us here like this," Nathan kept talking in a low voice as he jerked Duke off, familiar enough by now with Duke's body and what he liked to know when he was close to orgasm, timing his words to match. "Whole bunch of people walking through the woods towards us, can hear them getting closer, going to discover us here. Going to see us, they're going to see you Duke, see you as you come."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Possibly Duke intended to say something at that point, but all that came out was a strangled incoherent mess.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan switched up the rhythm of his hand, "Here they are Duke, a whole bunch of people discovered us here, watching us, watching </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span>. They are all looking at you and what's more, they all </span>
  <em>
    <span>love </span>
  </em>
  <span>the view."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke's shouts as he came were loud enough that Nathan wondered if they were audible down at ground level. He turned and grabbed Nathan in a fierce kiss, pushing him back against the far wall of the shower suddenly enough that it almost hurt. Nathan did not complain however, since Duke dropped to his knees and gave him possibly the most amazing blow job of his entire life, the soft gentle flow of the water running down the front of his body the whole while.</span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Chapter 20</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The endorphin glow lasted through to their meal with Bill, who turned out to be one of the few people Duke still kept in touch with from school, and who greeted Nathan as though he were almost as old a friend as Duke. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They ate in the bar in the hotel, more relaxed than the formal dining room, though the food was still amazing. Over a blue cheese burger and sweet potato fries, Nathan asked Bill what Duke was like in high school.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Focused," Bill replied. "Most kids in high school talk about how they're going to leave town, see the world - Duke actually meant it. He had a plan, and he stuck to it, and he did it. As soon as high school was over he was gone, while the rest of us were still getting used to the idea we weren't students there any more."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He must have been really desperate to get away from his family, Nathan thought. "You moved away though too," he pointed out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Only because Duke got me a job," replied Bill. "And loaned me the money to get out here. I still wonder where I'd be now if it wasn't for that," he said, and raised his glass briefly to Duke.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Well, I owed you a favour," replied Duke teasing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"That is true," Bill nodded with a smile.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan, sensing a story, asked for details, and between them they told him how Bill had stepped in to speak up for Duke when their high school Principal had assumed he was behind some vandalism at the school in their final year.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I had a definite reputation by then. Most of the teachers thought I was headed for a life of crime, going to follow in my father's footsteps. None of them liked the name Crocker. McShaw however, now that was a different matter."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bill rolled his eyes a little at that, Nathan noticed, but he had to agree it was true. "My grandfather was on the town council," he told Nathan. "My father was well-known at the school; donated some money from his business every year."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"So when Bill </span>
  <em>
    <span>McShaw</span>
  </em>
  <span> told them it couldn't have been me that spray-painted obscenities over half the lockers overnight because he was round at my place, they believed him."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Took me aside after to warn me about my choice of friends," added Bill, still clearly frustrated by this, "but they believed me."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Of course, the actual reason I couldn't have been spray-painting lockers was because I was sorting out a batch of fake IDs, but they didn't need to know that," Duke laughed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bill nodded. "Those fake IDs were integral to the social life of the school," he agreed, mock-serious as though arguing a case in court.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They both laughed at that. "Yeah they kind of were I think," Duke agreed. "There probably would have been a whole lot  more spray painting going on if I hadn't provided the students with an outlet by offering them the means to go out and have fun at weekends. There weren't a whole lot of options for things to do once you got too old for youth club but weren't technically old enough for the bars."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"At least, not in winter when it was too cold to hang out on the beach."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah exactly. I mean what did they expect teenagers to do with themselves? I was practically providing a public service!"</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. Chapter 21</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Nathan woke suddenly, disorientated in the strange bed and dimly lit room. Then Duke's arm hit his back again and he rolled over to see Duke tossing and turning, muttering to himself in a dream, or what looked more like a nightmare.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Unsure whether to wake him (was it nightmares you weren't supposed to wake people out of, or sleep walking?), Nathan cautiously put a hand on his shoulder. Duke flinched away, muttering to himself, eyes flicking side to side beneath closed lids. Nathan couldn't make out most of what Duke was saying but heard 'get away' in there a couple times. He made a decision; it was clearly a nightmare and surely the best thing to happen with a nightmare was to wake up. He put his hand on Duke's shoulder and shook him gently, "Duke, it's OK, you're dreaming. Wake up, it's just a dream."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke flinched, suddenly and completely awake, and looked around himself two or three times before he seemed to understand where he was. "Nathan,"  he said, as realisation hit.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You OK? Nightmare?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke shook his head to clear it, and settled back down in the bed against Nathan's shoulder. "Yeah, nightmare. My dad … was …"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan stroked his hair and listened.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"... I don't know, I actually can't remember most of it. Just one of those scary kind of dreams where you're running from something and not getting anywhere, you know?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah. It's OK, you're awake now."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Only part I really remember is at the end, my dad reaching a hand out to grab me, except he wasn't my dad, not really. It was a nightmare version of him, huge. Huge hands and his eyes gone black - like his whole eyes were black like he was … from some other world or something."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"It's OK," Nathan assured him, holding him a little tighter. "Maybe all those stories last night got your subconscious thinking."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke nodded softly. "Yeah. Me and Bill we don't usually talk about being kids that much."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Sorry, I brought all those memories up for you."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"No," Duke assured him. "It's fine. I'm glad you met Bill."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah me too. Liked him."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke nodded again. "I guess it did just remind me how badly I wanted to get away from my father as a kid. At the time I thought of it as leaving town as much as anything, but now that I'm back there I can see it wasn't the place at all, it was just … him."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Did he … hurt you?" Nathan asked, cautiously.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Not, as such," Duke replied. "He would have had to actually notice I was there for that. I saw him hurt other people though. People you might have expected him to care about. I saw him do brutal, viscous things. I was never in any doubt that if I did the wrong thing or got in his way, he would put a bullet between my eyes without blinking."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"God," said Nathan appalled. His own father had not exactly been emotionally available, but that was a whole other level.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I was terrified of him," Duke admitted. "Even after I left. Sometimes I wondered if he would track me down, drag me home with a gun pressed to my ribs. When I heard he had died … all I felt was relief. I spent a long time being afraid that made me a terrible person."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"It doesn't," said Nathan firmly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke was quiet for a long moment. Then gripped Nathan a little tighter. "Thanks Nate," he said, voice quiet.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Nate</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Nathan noticed, the nickname he'd only used before when they'd been getting naked together. Perhaps it was something other than the sex then, that Duke reserved that name for.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan looked at the clock; it was four in the morning. Unsure either of them would actually get back to sleep, Nathan squeezed Duke back and stroked his hair. He wished he had some words of wisdom to add, but he didn't, so he just held Duke, ran his fingers over his hair and felt him gradually relax against his shoulder and back into something like sleep.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0022"><h2>22. Chapter 22</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The next hotel Nathan checked into was several degrees down the scale in terms of luxury, but it was clean and he wasn't paying for it, so he couldn't complain. Plus he was only here for a couple days and it was practically next door to the court house where he was due to act as an expert witness in the morning. He looked out the window at the view of, not mountains but a brick wall, and closed the drapes. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He spoke to Duke for a while before he went to bed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"So what's the case again?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Three dead bodies found in the woods last year. Someone tried to destroy the evidence with sulphuric acid and then fire but they weren't thorough enough. The lawyers just need me to talk through how those things affect the evidence, how reliable the MEs conclusions are, that kind of thing, you know."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke laughed, "Not really but OK. You do this a lot, give evidence?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"No, there's not really as much need for it as you might think."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They signed off with an agreement to meet in the bar on Friday evening when Nathan was back in town.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>By the time Friday morning came around, Nathan was looking forward to getting home to his own bed, or Duke's, but in the end, the next time he woke up was somewhere entirely different and much less comfortable.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He blinked his eyes at the harsh overhead light and pulled his wrists against the cold handcuffs that held him to the chair. His feet were tied and there was something over his mouth so he couldn't call out either. There were some muffled voices in the next room but he couldn't make out what they were saying, didn't recognise any of them. His heart pumped unpleasantly in his chest with the adrenaline of it and he tried to work out what the hell was going on.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The last thing he remembered he'd been checking out of the hotel after the final day of giving evidence. It seemed pretty clear to him that the MEs conclusions were right, and that the two men on trial would therefore be spending a long time in jail. He handed his room key over to the receptionist, left the building and then … had there been a black van? This was like something out of a bad cop show, he thought, half wanting to believe that it wasn't real at all, was some kind of elaborate prank.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But his head hurt too much for that. He looked around him, no idea where he was. It seemed to be some kind of warehouse space, or a closed down factory; all generic concrete and steel. He tried to fix as much in his memory as he could, looked down at the bindings around his ankles to study them as well. He wasn't a detective, but he knew enough about law enforcement to know that the smallest detail could help seal a case. In fact he had just demonstrated that pretty thoroughly on the witness stand. It looked like his legs were tied with the kind of blue plastic rope you could get at any hardware store. He was just turning his head behind him to try and see his wrists when the door burst open, bringing a waft of cold air, rain, and armed police with it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He suddenly felt glad of the bindings and gag around his mouth making him look like the victim in this and not anyone to be shot at. One of the cops came towards him, a pretty blonde woman lowering her gun to reach out and untie him, but he nodded his head to the side in the direction he'd heard the voices. She nodded an acknowledgement and took up her gun again, all business as she directed the others to follow her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After that everything blurred together in a big confusing mess, Nathan wondering dimly if he was in shock. He understood that the cops had arrested the kidnappers, and that the reason they'd taken him was because they'd objected to him helping put their fellow gang members behind bars. He understood that someone had seen him being grabbed and pulled into the black van, and that the police had tracked them to this disused warehouse at the edge of town. He was taken to the local hospital, checked over by a very thorough and practical woman called Eleanor, and told that the police would follow up with him next week. And then he was taken home.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He closed his front door behind him and looked around his empty apartment. He liked it here, he really did, but at the moment it seemed very empty indeed. He thought about going to the Gull (his original plan would have put him there for an hour or more already), but that seemed too much. He had been pronounced OK at the hospital, but his head was pounding and his wrists were sore. He pulled out his phone and texted Duke, though he stared at the screen for 10 minutes trying to work out what to say in a text when Duke was at work, that would explain why he wasn't coming cover but that also wouldn't scare Duke half to death. [sorry haven't been in yet. Got hurt, just got back from hospital. Am OK but not feeling up to the bar]</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His phone buzzed with a reply almost straight away [youre home?]</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He replied to say yes and went into the bedroom to get changed. By the time he got back into the kitchen Duke was there looking for him and he didn't think he'd ever been so glad to see anyone as he was to see Duke right then, who stepped quickly over and wrapped his arms carefully around him.</span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0023"><h2>23. Chapter 23</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>"Thank you for being here for this," Nathan said, squeezing Duke's hand. "Shouldn't be a big deal really, just. …"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Nathan, of course," replied Duke with feeling, squeezing back. Just then the expected knock on the door arrived and Duke went to answer it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan saw Duke look carefully at an offered ID badge before he stepped somewhat reluctantly away from the door, and then Nathan stood up in surprised. "You were there," he said, recognising the pretty blonde woman who he had directed towards the murmured voices.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She nodded, pleased to see he remembered, he thought. She showed him her ID too and held out her hand as she introduced herself, "Detective Audrey Parker. It's nice to meet you in better circumstances."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"We were expecting a local cop," commented Duke as they sat down.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I like to follow up myself where I can," she said. "And we're only a few hours away."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan had been worried that talking about getting kidnapped would be difficult. If he had known it would be with someone who had been there at the time, he would have been even more worried about it. But actually, he found that it helped. She was good at talking to nervous witnesses, he realised, she had the knack for it. She chatted to them a bit to break the tension; correctly noticed that Duke was wary of her and managed to quickly make him warm to her. And then he found that talking through what had happened (the little he remembered) helped to process it somehow, and it helped to feel useful in giving his statement. She showed him photos of the suspects - a beautiful black-haired woman in dramatic black gloves, an older beady-eyed guy with greying curly hair hanging around his shoulders, a couple of guys in their 30s looking resentfully at the camera. He didn't recognise any of them, but that helped her tie down some leads, she said. And he was glad it was the same detective he was talking to; she was obviously competent underneath the warmth, but it also helped to see her in an everyday situation. It helped to remind him that life wasn't all life and death drama - there were normal days as well.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As she left she handed him a card. "There's a therapist in the area who specialises in helping people who've been through similar things. I think it would be worthwhile you talking to her."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan looked at the card, Claire Callaghan, and nodded. "Thanks."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"And you've got my details if you think of anything else. We'll keep you updated on the case."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They thanked her again as she left, and then Duke ordered Nathan back to the sofa while he made an Irish coffee for them both. "I don't know how to convict criminals or identify decomposed bodies but I do know how to make exactly the right drink for the situation," Duke told him, half serious, half joking.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When he took the first sip, Nathan had to conclude that he was right.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They sat there talking about what had happened and what the detective had told them for the rest of the afternoon. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"So, you were just a witness on the wrong case? They just wanted revenge for their buddy being on trial?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yes I guess. Not just buddies, gang members. Sounds like some kind of lifetime oath or something, sealed in blood or whatever. "</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Sounds like the kind of thing that got my brother killed, quite honestly. 'The Guard' though? What kind of gang name even is that?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah, I… who knows," said Nathan, suddenly very tired. "Don't think I'll be doing many of those jobs again anyway."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke nodded. "Yeah that sounds fair. And at least, I guess it wasn't anything personal. The detective didn't seem to think there was any ongoing risk, what with them all locked up. You going to see that therapist?" he asked. "Might be a good idea."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah, I will. Feel like it could have been a lot worse but, yeah. Probably a good idea."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke nodded, "Good. You look tired," he added.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan nodded an agreement and leaned back on the sofa. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Another Irish coffee?" Duke asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"On one condition," Nathan said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Oh?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"We find a comedy movie to watch and spend the rest of the day lazing about on the sofa."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Deal," replied Duke.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Oh and Duke?" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah?" Duke turned round half way to the kitchen, surprised.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Thank you, for … not just for the coffee."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Nathan of course," Duke replied. They smiled at each other and Duke took a couple of long strides over to bend down and kiss Nathan's forehead. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You want to pick a movie or shall I?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You pick something, I don't mind."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"OK, I'll just make some more of those coffees. And then you'd better prepare yourself for some serious snuggling."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Always ready for that," Nathan replied with a smile. As Duke went back into the kitchen he tipped his head back against the sofa and closed his eyes, half asleep already and feeling surprisingly close to happy.</span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0024"><h2>24. Chapter 24</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Six months later and Nathan was pretty happy with life. The sessions with Claire had really helped him process some things: not just in relation to getting kidnapped, but also some stuff from his childhood and his life up to that point that he came to realise he hadn't really dealt with quite as well as he'd thought he had before. His critical and demanding father, his emotionally unavailable mother, losing both of them, his last relationship, the uncomfortable way that had ended and the fallout it left scattered across his life that he had moved half way across the country to get away from. In hind sight he wondered if that had really been the most productive strategy. But then, it had brought him to Duke, so he considered it a win.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And now, they were about to go on vacation together; their first proper trip away. The hotel had been carefully chosen, the requirements being: 1) hot weather, 2) nearby beach or at least a nice pool, 3) a nice view, 4) somewhere they could sleep with the windows open, shower and bathe with the windows open too, or in the open air if possible, 5) somewhere where they could be naked outside on their own, outdoors but private. With such a specific wish list they had been prepared to have to compromise but in the end it was Bill who came up with something - recommended by a friend's co-worker's sister's boss … or something - Nathan had lost track. But the place looked perfect, though he was trying to reign in his excitement until they got there, in case it didn't turn out to be quite what it looked like.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He needn't have bothered though - if he could have designed something from scratch, this would have been it. The beach was a 20 minute walk away from the complex with a hotel building at the front, a pool behind it, and behind that a huge swathe of woodland that the hotel's owners had dotted with a collection of self-contained little treehouse-like cabins - each tucked away down their own private track. Theirs was built around two massive trees that poked their branches through its walls, making them feel like the space they stood in was part of the living forest. It was surrounded on three sides by a wide open balcony, with french windows in each room (living space, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom) that opened wide to let the warm green air inside. There was a step ladder from the balcony up to the flat roof, a wide-open decked space canopied with branches and leaves that were dense enough to shield them from the worst of the intense midday sun during the day, but that had enough gaps in them to let them look up at a clear sky full of stars at night. There was even a hot tub up there. Logically there must have been another of the cabins not too far away, but they couldn't see any sign of one, and all they could hear was bird calls and the noises of the forest. There was a gap in the trees to the south where the hill sloped away from them, showing them a view of the tree tops laid out beneath them, glimpses of a distant river and some dramatic-looking mountains beyond that. The place felt secluded and private enough that no one was going to stumble across them so that Nathan felt comfortable, but open also open enough to the world to ping Duke's exhibitionist nature. It was perfect, it was actually perfect. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They looked round the place in awe, oooing and aahing at one thing after another. Duke opened the fridge and the cupboards in the kitchen; it was all stocked with everything they had ordered. Nathan turned on the sound system and set a mix of gentle background music going. They had turned down the option of room service; they had everything they would need for the week, there was no point having someone come in to make a bed that they were only going to mess up again anyway. When they had booked the place, they had planned to go out and about most days; either walk down to the beach or take the bus into town to soak up some culture. But it quickly seemed to Nathan that they were most likely to spend the whole entire week in the cabin, simply enjoying each other.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I'm going to shower off the journey," said Duke, once they had looked at everything twice. "Wanna join me?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You even need to ask?" replied Nathan, pulling off his tshirt and throwing it behind him in the vague direction of a random piece of furniture. He had a feeling they weren't going to be needing many clothes while they were here, and he was really very happy about that indeed.</span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0025"><h2>25. Chapter 25</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The bathroom in the cabin did not reach quite the standards of luxury that their 15th floor hotel room had, but it was pretty close. The roll top bath stood in one half of the room, the sink in one corner, toilet behind a little partition in the other, and the shower took up the rest of the space. It was more of a wet room in a room than anything - a generously sized square space bordered by the bathroom wall on one side, a long wall of glass on the other and that was it. The glass extended long enough on either side to keep the spray from the large shower head away from the rest of the room, leaving open space to walk into the spray from either the corner by the sink or, next to the french windows that they opened as soon as they walked in the room and didn't close again until they were packing up to leave. The breeze and the sounds of the forest wafted in to wash over them along with the water and it honestly felt like they were taking a shower outside.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They poured shampoo and shower gel into each other's hands and soaped up each other's hair and bodies, stopping at regular intervals to kiss and caress so that by the time they finally stepped out of the water they had soaked up so much of it their fingers were all crinkled up.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan felt the warm air on his wet skin as he stepped up to the open French windows, the forest laid out in front of him. "Don't think we'll even need towels," he commented happily.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You look wonderful stood there against the trees, drops of water drying on your skin," said Duke as he came to stand behind him and run a finger down Nathan's spine.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan shivered at the touch and turned to face him. "You're the beautiful one," he objected. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Can't we both be?" Duke pointed out. "You're gorgeous."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan frowned. "Suppose it's subjective," he acknowledged reluctantly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"That is true. And I think you're beautiful so don't argue with me."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"'K," replied Nathan. He pulled them closer together to ask, "If we're both so beautiful, why aren't we kissing?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I have absolutely no idea," grinned Duke and pressed their lips softly together.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan pulled them closer together, his hands running down Duke's back to his ass. Duke pushed against Nathan as they kissed, and Nathan stepped back, bumping his back against the shelves by the window. A tube of something fell off and Duke caught it, label up; body lotion. Duke grinned and flicked the lid open to squeeze some into his hand, but he got more than he bargained for when the whole lid came off and dumped half the contents of the tube into his palm. Duke frowed, annoyed, then decided to go with it, plucking the lid out of the way and smearing the cool smooth lotion over Nathan's chest. It felt great against his skin, so he took the tube from Duke and returned the favour, squeezing the rest of the lotion directly onto his chest.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke laughed his wonderful laugh and pulled them together again, squooshing the lotion between their chests as slick smooth hands found their way round to their backs. In no time at all they were both covered in the stuff and they slid against each other as they moved, hands falling over abs and ribs. It was relaxing as much as it was a turn-on, but Nathan gasped when Duke's slick hand took hold of his cock and before long their movements turned more urgent and frantic, until they were rutting up against each other's stomachs and into slick, slippery hands.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They shuddered against each other as they came, coating each other's stomachs in a different kind of sticky.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Wow," said Nathan once he could talk again. He looked down between them and back up at Duke. "Think we need another shower."</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0026"><h2>26. Chapter 26</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>This chapter is for <a>GreyHaven</a> :)</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>In the end they did venture out of the cabin a few times. One evening they took a stroll down to the main hotel building to check out the bar, and the live music it promised. They were greeted with an extensive menu of cocktails, wines and beers from around the world, and a jazz quartet playing smoothly away in the corner. Duke studied the menu with a professional eye, insisting on looking through the whole thing before they ordered. "Ah, there's a cider section. Remember that drunk Brit in the bar I was telling you about a while ago? Now, what were those names he said were good?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan peered over at Duke's menu and he pointed the section out to him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Shall we try some? You ever had any hard cider before?" Duke asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Not sure's I have. You recognise any of the names?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Um … no," admitted Duke. "I never did get around to doing anything with that list that guy gave me." He looked through the list, reading aloud as he went. "Hmmm, Scrumpy, Westons, Thatchers..."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Thatcher like the Prime Minister, Thatcher?" asked Nathan. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Um… presumably … not?" ventured Duke. "Scrumpy sounds familiar, I'm going to try that," he decided.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Thatchers for me," decided Nathan at random.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Half way through their first bottle, their verdict was that while you wouldn't want to drink it every day, for a refreshing light option on vacation, it was a good choice. The jazz quartet were surprisingly good, the atmosphere was nice and relaxed and they had a beautiful view out over the beach and towards the sea in the distance. The ciders went down easily as they soaked up the atmosphere. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A few bottles in and they were realising both drinks might have been slightly stronger than they'd really accounted for. Duke reached for the menu, picked it up, dropped it and flicked through it three times before he found the right page. For all that they had spent plenty of afternoons and evenings together with bottles of beer in their hands, it was much rarer that they actually got drunk. Tipsy maybe, merry. But slurring your words, falling over, forgetting half the evening drunk, was not something either of them really did.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You," said Nathan, amused, "are drunk." </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"That is a wild exaggeration," protested Duke. "I've only had four. Four and a half," he corrected picking his bottle up and realising as he did so that he didn't even need the menu anyway because the alcohol content was right there on the label. "Seven percent? That does not taste like that."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan peered at his bottle with only a slight wobble and then took a big gulp of its contents. "Nope," he agreed happily.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"What's yours?" Duke asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Se'en point four," replied Nathan, slightly slurred.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Oh we are so drunk," realised Duke. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"S'OK!" Nathan told him happily, and then in a whisper as though it were a secret, "We're on vacation."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Sir, you present a compelling argument!" joked Duke in agreement, and ordered the same again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You're a cute drunk," Nathan announced, some time later.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I think you'll find I am in fact cute 100% of the time, in fact."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yes but … Yes! But," Nathan slapped his hand on the table between them for emphasis. "Adorable now your hairs all mussed."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"What? How'd that happen?" Duke asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan shrugged. "Didn't notice. Too adorable."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Well … that is outrageous," said Duke, making no effort to check or retie his pony tail.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>By the time they were asking the very patient bartender to charge the cost to their room … ("No, cabin! Not a s'room, an cabin wi'tree branches'n it!" "Yes, sir, very good.") … and stumbling out along the path through the woods, they both agreed it had been a fine choice of drink. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>By the time Nathan woke in the morning however, the cider did not seem quite so friendly. His head pulsed and his mouth tasted like something had died in it. He heard a slight moan to his side, and decided to assume it was Duke expressing the same sentiment he felt. He spoke quietly, without opening his eyes or moving. "What. Happened."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I think cider is evil," mumbled Duke.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"H'much did we drink?" Nathan wondered.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"No idea," Duke replied. "How'd we get home?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Don't 'member."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Why is there a twig in my hair?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Twig?" said Nathan, opening his eyes slowly and turning his head carefully towards the sound of Duke's voice. They had made it as far as the bed, he noticed, that was something. He saw Duke holding out a twig with a few crumpled leaves attached. "Oh! You fell," said Nathan, as a sudden image came to him of Duke laughing as he pushed himself back out of a bush. "Big leafy bush by the path and you … fell into it."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke reached carefully up past Nathan's ear and fished another of the leaves out of Nathan's hair. "Guess I wasn't the only one," he commented. He studied the leaf carefully for a moment, as though it might offer some answers, then asked, "Were we singing? I seem to remember singing."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Not sure I sing," replied Nathan doubtfully.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yes, there was singing. That Sweet Talk Radio song you had in your head last week."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"No, I don't think … oh," said Nathan, remembering that Duke was right - he had started singing and Duke had joined in, but neither of them had really remembered the words. "Never let me drink cider again."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They quickly decided to abandon their tentative plan to go into town that morning, and replace it with a plan that involved largely sitting around and drinking water until they could face lunch.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You know," said Duke a couple of hours later as they sat out on the roof deck under the trees with the warm breeze wafting over them, the view of the hills in the distance and the sound of birds singing somewhere nearby, "there are worse places to be hungover."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I'll drink to that," Nathan agreed, and they clinked their water glasses together. Carefully, so as to not make too much noise.</span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0027"><h2>27. Chapter 27</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next day they went into town in the morning, avoiding the bars in favour of walking around art galleries and museums and arriving back at the cabin late afternoon with some souvenirs to take home, and some luxury chocolates that they fed to each other while reclining in the hot tub.</p><p> </p><p>Once the chocolates were gone, they kissed the taste from each other's tongues. Nathan pushed Duke gently backwards until his back was against the edge of the tub. Then he pulled Duke's hips back into the centre of the tub with him, while a hand on Duke's chest encouraged him not to actually follow. "Stretch yourself out," he said. "Let me see you."</p><p> </p><p>Duke happily obliged, arching his back and stretching backwards to rest his shoulders and outstretched arms against the edge of the tub. Nathan pulled his hips upwards in the water, a hand under Duke's ass helping him to float so that his hips bobbed at the water line. "Gorgeous," Nathan said as his other hand wrapped around Duke's hard cock. "Absolutely gorgeous."</p><p> </p><p>He stroked and gently squeezed and watched the way Duke shifted towards that state of bliss; the most beautiful thing of all. "Wonder if there's a plane up there," he said, conversationally as though it were an idle thought that had just occurred to him. "Or helicopter, looking down, searching for something, flying over us right now."</p><p> </p><p>"God Nate yes, I love it when you talk to me like that," Duke said with feeling. He moaned with pleasure as Nathan dipped his hips down in the water and then up, the sloshing of it washing over his cock and balls.</p><p> </p><p>"Who knows what they're looking for, but they're glad they've found you instead. Taking a photo to remember you by, the gorgeous stranger they flew past one day."</p><p> </p><p>Duke stretched his arms further out to grip the sides of the tub, and Nathan watched his knuckles turn white as he played with the speed of the movement of his hand. Not planning to tease exactly, just not for it to be over too soon.</p><p> </p><p>"Or, might be a Google satellite up there, scanning the ground for Google Maps. Taking high res photos of everything it finds."</p><p> </p><p>Duke tried to speak but all that came out was a strangled-sounding moan that Nathan might have thought meant pain if he hadn't heard it before. "Everythin'?" he managed when he tried again.</p><p> </p><p>"Everything," replied Nathan confidently. "Every single little detail, from the way your eyes crinkle at the edges when you squeeze them shut to the way you pant when you gasp for breath to the way your beautiful body is spread out in front of me; chest and abs and arms, fingers gripping the tub so tight your knuckles are white, to your hips bobbing in the water, waves lapping around you and especially to your cock, throbbing in my hand. They see everything those Google satellites and then you'll be there online Google Earth for anyone to see."</p><p> </p><p>"Any...one?" Duke gasped in between shallow stuttered breaths.</p><p> </p><p>"Anyone. A beautiful photo of you captured just as you come, face a picture of bliss. And you know what, someone's going to find that and find it so beautiful, they're going to tell other people about it. That image of you passed around between friends, shared everywhere. Popular enough to go viral, Buzzfeed'll even do a piece about the mysterious beautiful stranger that everyone can't stop looking at."</p><p> </p><p>Duke's whole body shuddered as he came, hips flailing in the water with shouts loud enough to startle the birds in the trees overhead.</p><p> </p><p>A moment later, Duke was pusing Nathan back across to the other side of the tub. "God Nate you are amazing, no one's ever made me feel like you do."</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah?"</p><p> </p><p>"You don't even realise do you, how amazing you are?"</p><p> </p><p>"N-"</p><p> </p><p>"Ah!" Duke held up a hand to forstal any objections. "No disagreeing - I think you are beautiful, I think you are amazing. Just accept it. It's not like I don't have anyone to compare you to, you know that - been with enough people to know what amazing is like. I've been with enough people to know the way you make me feel is something special, something rare, something wonderful."</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah?" asked Nathan, feeling his cheeks blush despite himself. He didn't have as varied or adventurous a sexual history as Duke; he had hoped only to be able to keep up with him. This level of praise was unexpected and even if it felt undeserved, he couldn't help but be pleased.</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah," replied Duke, running a hand through Nathan's hair.</p><p> </p><p>In a way Nathan would have liked to feel Duke's mouth sink down around him in that moment, mouth and talented tongue that held such wonders of bliss. But for all that there wasn't anyone around (and for all that he didn really think there was a satellite overhead) that felt just a little too exposed for him. Duke realised this though, straddling him to cover Nathan's body with his, and reaching down into the water between them to take Nathan's cock in his equally talented hand.</p><p> </p><p>"So good," Nathan moaned happily. "You are so good at that. Love the way you touch me, the way you kiss me."</p><p> </p><p>Duke kissed him then, hard and deep, and Nathan kissed back enthusiastically until the kiss (and Duke's hand) left him boneless and befuddled enough that he couldn't remember how his mouth worked and he had to pull away. It was all he could do to cling tight to Duke's back as he came, moans muffled against Duke's neck.</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Their adventures with the cider and a day of walking around town had left them tired enough that it wasn't long after that they were getting ready for sleep.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I meant what I said earlier you know," said Duke as he plumped up the pillows under his head. "It wasn't just talk for the moment - no one else ever made me feel like you do. It's like you can just … see what like."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah," Nathan agreed. "I see you," thinking - you put it all out on display, how could I not?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"See that's exactly what I mean. I was ready to sleep but now just the way you say those three words makes me want to kiss you all over."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You say that like it's a bad thing," Nathan grinned. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"We can sleep tomorrow," Duke agreed and rolled over to cover Nathan's body and mouth with his.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0028"><h2>28. Chapter 28</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>They didn’t spend as much time on the beach as they’d thought they would, but they enjoyed a walk along it the next day, pushing their toes into the soft white sand and splashing through the shallows. It was beautiful, if a little overcrowded.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Scuba diving lessons," pointed out Nathan, noticing a sign.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You want to try?" asked Duke, sounding surprised.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan hadn't taken advantage of the fact he had his own personal scuba instructor walking next to him, he realised. "Not right now," he said. It seemed a shame to break up the relaxing atmosphere of the vacation with something that might involve a fair bit of effort. "Maybe another time. Once we get back. If only I knew a scuba instructor," he joked, mock-puzzled as he stroked his chin in a facsimile of deep thought.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke laughed and bumped his shoulder against Nathan's as they walked. "I'll take you out some time if you like. We'll just need to hire some equipment but I know a place for that. Or we could start with some snorkelling. How familiar are you with the sea, exactly?" Duke asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Pretty familiar with seeing it out my window. Actually being … in it? Not really."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"OK, let's start with some snorkelling then. There's a great spot for it up the coast from us a little way; plenty of shallow water, the curve of the bay keeps the waves out and there's usually plenty of sealife around to look at. If you like that, we'll hire some scuba gear."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Sounds great," replied Nathan. It probably would never have occurred to him to go either snorkelling or scuba diving otherwise, but he was looking forward to it as much for the fact of seeing a different side to Duke as to actually get in the water.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After the beach they had a delicious meal in the hotel and then walked back to the cabin through the forest at sunset. It was, Nathan thought, possibly the most ridiculously romantic day he could have imagined, so much so that he almost wondered if he were dreaming. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Well, if is a dream,</span>
  </em>
  <span> he thought, </span>
  <em>
    <span>may as well make the most of it.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke pulled him into a hug next to the sofa. "What now?" he asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There was something Nathan had been thinking about for a while. He'd been turning it over in his head, and then he'd been waiting for the right moment to bring it up. This, he reaslied happily, was his moment, so he went for it. "Yesterday in the hot tub was fun," he said, "but how about today I tie you to the bed so I can keep you all to myself?" His heart thudded in that half-unpleasant half-pleasant way it did whenever they talked about something new, some aspect of sex they hadn't tried before. Not that this was an entirely novel suggestion; they had played with the idea, skirted around it. But a tie or a belt grabbed in haste and clumsily wrapped around a wrist or two was not quite the same as what he was thinking of now, which was to carefully tie Duke's wrists and ankles to each corner of the bed and then tease him to within an inch of his life.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I'm all yours, Nathan, you know that."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"But, do you want to … let me …."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke's smile turned into a more serious, intense kind of expression. "Yes," he said firmly. "You have something planned? You can do whatever you want to me. I …. kind of love the idea of you taking control sometimes."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan stepped Duke backwards as they kissed until his back hit the wall with a little thud. "Get naked," he murmured against Duke's ear, and turned to walk into the bedroom, leaving Duke to follow. Nathan grabbed his bag from under the bed and pulled out a collection of straps, watching Duke's eyes go wide when he joined him and saw them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You really did plan ahead," Duke commented.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I like to … think things through," Nathan admitted.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I see that. It's not a bad thing." Duke, having left his clothes in the other room (as Nathan had known he would), stepped up to Nathan to take a strap from him, examining it. "Looks complicated," he said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Will let me strap you to the mattress; any kind of bed." Nathan said, and showed him the strap that went around under the mattress and the loops attached to it that would go around Duke's wrists and ankles. It was carefully designed with adjustable buckles and loops so that Nathan would be able to fix Duke's limbs exactly where he wanted them. He couldn't entirely decipher the look on Duke's face; slightly impressed perhaps, kind of turned on. Was there something else in there? "You got any safe words I should know about?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Red and amber; the traffic light thing."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Got it," Nathan told him, as he looped a strap under the mattress. "You want to lie down?" he asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke got onto the bed and let Nathan tie each ankle to the strap, adjusting it a little so that his legs pulled further apart. Duke's arms were stretched out taught to either side at shoulder level and his wrists strapped to the bed as well. Nathan put a pillow under Duke's head; partly for comfort, partly to let him see down the bed. "Comfortable?" asked Nathan, and when Duke nodded, Nathan asked, "How much can you move?" He watched Duke's muscles tense as he tried and failed to move his limbs.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Not at all," Duke said, sounding surprised.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Good. Then you've nowhere to hide," Nathan said simply. Duke had been looking pretty calm until that point; he wasn't particularly turned on by the restraints themselves. But at those words - nowhere to hide - he sucked in a sharp little breath and Nathan saw the muscles around his eyes relax in just the right kind of way. So, Nathan kept talking, and he watched Duke grow hard as he did.  "I'm gonna see everything Duke. Every twitch of your cock, every muscle that tenses, every intake of breath. Gonna make you beg for my touch 'cos I know how beautiful you'll be and I'm gonna see it all. Wonder how close to orgasm I can get you before I even touch you," he finished, as though it would be an interesting experiment (which it would). </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan stood at the foot of the bed looking down Duke's body and for a long, long moment they simply looked at each other. They held each others' gaze for while, Nathan looking then over Duke's beautiful body spread out in front of him, Duke looking down at himself as well, Nathan noticed, filing that information away for later. (Was that something Duke liked, seeing himself, as well? There was a full length mirror on one of Nathan's wardrobe doors at home, and Nathan had a sudden image of lying on the bed behind Duke, watching as Duke jerked himself off, eyes on his own reflection in the mirror. Or of standing behind him to grasp Duke's cock himself, telling Duke to watch Nathan's hand as he made him come and while he watched Duke's expression in the mirror. There was some potential there he thought, but he would come back to those thoughts another time.) Right now, Duke's face was relaxed and open and he was fully hard, his breathing coming in fast little regular breaths. He lay still and relaxed except that he stretched out his toes occasionally. Nathan stood there for a long moment and watched Duke breathe, a nagging feeling at the bad of his mind telling him he should be doing something, before he remembered; "You good? What colour're you at?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah I'm good. Green," Duke breathed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan, having not yet thought about his own clothes, suddenly felt incredibly over dressed, and slipped quickly out of everything he was wearing. He got up on the bed to kneel between Duke's legs, and he reached a hand forwards towards Duke's groin but then pulled back again at the last minute, prompting a little whine from Duke's throat that flipped something over in his stomach. "Not yet," he told Duke. "You're not desperate enough yet. Am going to touch you though, just the way you like. Shall I tell you how I'm going to make you come?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke's expression was unreadable, all his attention fixed on Nathan. It seemed like the building could fall down around them and Duke wouldn't notice, a camera crew could walk in and ask Duke if they could film him for live broadcast to the whole world, but as long as Nathan kept looking at him, Duke wouldn't even care. His stomach and leg muscles tensed, pushing his hips upwards slightly in a movement that did not seem to be entirely deliberate or conscious. Nathan watched him, made a show of watching him, turning his head this way and that as though to find the angle with the best view, moving his head up and down as his gaze travelled up and down Duke's body. "Y-yeah," Duke stuttered out eventually. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Am going to touch you eventually, am going to touch you everywhere. Start with your toes p'rhaps. Move up your legs, dance my fingers over your hips," Nathan mimed the movement with his hand in the air and Duke bit his lip on a moan at that, but Nathan carried on, "up to your beautiful chest, scrap my nails over your nipples. Run my fingers along your arms and that sensitive spot by your elbows. Find all your wonderful ticklish spots. Might kiss you then, if it looks like you want it enough, might stretch out over you and press our bodies together; feel you all at once."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I … I want it," Duke confirmed between stuttered breaths.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You're skipping ahead," Nathan objected lightly. "Haven't finished telling you yet. Haven't even touched your cock yet in this story. But I will." He held his hand up in front of him, flexed his fingers. "You remember how it feels when I jerk you off?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke simply moaned, in pleasure and anticipation and a little touch of frustration.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Gonna touch you everywhere else first; your balls, your ass, everywhere. Want to see you shudder with the frustration of it, the want, the need. Want to see how beautiful you are when you're at the edge of what I can do to you."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Fuck'in hell Nate," Duke breathed, half under his breath.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan let his eyes travel lazily up and down Duke's body before he spoke again. "What colour?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke had thrown his head back, eyes closed, and he stayed like that as he spoke. "Green. Nate I swear to god …. I don't even know … the things you say to me … your voice …. you can do all of it … I don't even …. but I know I'm going to love it because it's you. Keep talking to me like that and I'm going to love every minute."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Good 'cos there's going to be a lot of them. Gonna make this last a long time."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Won't last long once you touch me," Duke warned him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan just grinned. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He started slow, like he meant to go on. He brushed the tips of his fingers lightly over the soles and arches of Duke's feet making him squirm and curl his toes in a fruitless effort to escape. He told Duke how it felt to see him, to watch the sudden movement of his ribs as he breathed, to see the curl of Duke's toes in response to the touch of a single finger. He moved his attentions gradually up Duke's perfectly-shaped legs, finding the sensitive skin at the back of his knees and talking to Duke the whole while about how gorgeous he was, telling him truthfully how seeing him so turned on made Nathan's own cock throb, demanding attention that he wasn't going to give it because he was too caught up in the view of Duke laid out beneath him. He danced the fingertips of both hands over Duke's hip bones, and laughed in aroused delight as Duke's hips moved up towards him apparently of their own accord. Duke whined and gasped and wriggled his hips and when Nathan told him how beautiful he was he simply moaned. Nathan followed through on his promise and dragged his fingernails lightly over Duke's nipples, watching the effect this had on his breathing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He leaned forward, closer to Duke's face, hands on the mattress either side of Duke's chest. "What colour?" he asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke gave every appearance of being very happy with his situation, but he didn't respond, perhaps hadn't even heard the question. Nathan shifted closer to press a soft kiss to Duke's lips and speak to him with their lips practically still touching. "You good?" he asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Good…" Duke murmured. "... love…" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan smiled and pulled back sucking a warm wet kiss onto one nipple then the other. He used his hands and his mouth across Duke's collarbone, his neck, his arms; those sensitive spots at the inside of elbow and wrist. He ran his fingers over the palms of Duke's hands and sucked fingers into his mouth, talking to him all the while his mouth was not otherwise occupied. He moved back up Duke's arms and down his ribs, running hands over Duke's hips around to his ass, squeezing and stroking, then moving around between his legs, touching him everywhere, "Only your balls to go," he said, grinning as Duke responded with a whine and stuttered thrusting of his hips.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He wasn't timing it, but he was enjoying himself almost as much as Duke, and it felt that he had been turned on enough for long enough that he was going to lose all ability to think straight before too long. His cock was hard and aching, crying to him for release. He looked down at Duke, studying his beautiful face; his eyes closed tight, his mouth open wide. He looked, Nathan thought, thoroughly blissed out. Nathan had stopped touching him, but Duke hadn't reacted, his system awash with enough hormones and neurotransmitters and whatever else that his blissed out state would continue for a while even if he left the room Nathan suspected.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan positioned himself on his knees between Duke's legs again and reached down into his bag on the floor to grab a tube of lube and slick up his hands. Softly and slowly he cupped Duke's balls with one hand, reached the fingers of the other to the base of his cock. "Duke," he called. "Look at me." Duke was so far gone he didn't seem to hear at first, but Nathan kept asking and eventually Duke turned his face, opened his eyes to Nathan. His breath was short and sharp; he was one quick flick of the wrist away from orgasm Nathan thought.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Can see how turned on you are," Nathan told him. "I want to see you ask for more. Show me how badly you want it."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke moaned in delighted frustration, looking down at Nathan's hand poised to grab his cock. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah, look at what I'm doing to you," Nathan encouraged him, with a little squeeze of his other hand. "Show me if you want it."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Ye- …" Duke gasped, threw his head back as his hips stuttered in Nathan's hands. Nathan felt as though he were about to come himself without anything even touching him at all. This was exactly what he had wanted, to see Duke come completely undone, and all through his touch. Threaded through the turn-on of it was a little kick of power, and a large chunk of wonder at how completely Duke had turned himself over to him. The trust of it warmed his heart. The anticipation of the next few moments made his heart thump and his cock pulse with every heartbeat. Duke clenched his hands into two tight fists and Nathan saw all the muscles in his arms tense, apparently with concentration as Duke brought his head back up to look down at himself and deliberately tilted his hips in Nathan's hands as though trying to find something to thrust into, though nothing was there. "I want it," he said, eyes on Nathan's hands, breathing hard and fast apparently with the effort of concentration. "Please. Nate. So close. Want it. Want you. Want. Please." Nathan looked carefully at Duke's wide-eyed, pleading face for a moment, fixing the image in his memory.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Then he moved his hand up Duke's shaft, fingers curled to quickly stroke as the other squeezed. Duke's hips pulsed in time with Nathan's movements; one stroke, two, three and Duke came. Nathan let go of his balls to lie his body over Duke's, continuing to stroke him through his orgasm as he leaned forward to softly kiss him. Duke's wide open mouth, too distracted to kiss back, yielded under Nathan's kiss, soft and warm. Nathan lay over him, his own aching cock between Duke's cock and hip bone, his own hips pulsing now with a rhythm he didn't try to control. As Duke's cock softened in his hand, he moved his lube-slicked fingers to his own and barely managed two strokes before he came, moaning into the kiss as Duke started to kiss back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Slowly they came back to themselves, almost too washed out to move, but Nathan undid the ties around Duke's wrists and ankles so they could curl into each other, still breathing deep, still blissed out on systems full of the intoxicants their bodies had created for them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Nate," Duke mumbled after a while. "I swear to god …"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Good idea?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>" ... you are amazing."</span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0029"><h2>29. Chapter 29</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>"It's beautiful. You really were right out in the forest huh?" Julia commented as she looked through the last of their photos from the trip.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yep," agreed Nathan happily. "Wonderful place." They hadn't exactly told her specifically why they had wanted somewhere so private, but Nathan suspected she had known Duke long enough to have some idea. If that meant she drew any conclusions about him as well, there wasn't really much he could do about that, but he found himself less worried by it than he might have expected. She still got on well with Duke so if she knew about his interest in showing off it didn't seem to both her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke and Dwight walked back in from where they had been discussing Duke's idea to have Dwight make a menu sign for outside - a dramatic wooden frame for the specials chalkboard that would draw potential customers attention to the new menu.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I'll get a design sketched out and sent over to you next week," Dwight was saying.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Sounds great man, thanks. You're staying for a drink?" Duke asked him. "On the house."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Sure thanks," said Dwight. "Hey Nathan. Hey Julia, are you in town for long?" he asked as he walked past them to take the next seat at the bar.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan nodded a greeting in return.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Few more weeks," Julia told him. "Then I'm heading back out to Tanzania."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dwight nodded an impressed looking little nod, and toasted to her work with Doctors Without Borders with the bottle of beer Duke had just handed him from behind the bar.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"It's intense but I love it," said Julia. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"How's Eleanor?" Dwight asked her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Julia nodded in a sort of resigned acceptance. "Still the same. Still kicking ass at the ER."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"ER?" Nathan asked, trying to place why this felt significant. Then it hit him. "An Eleanor checked me over for concussion a while back. Told me there was nothing wrong with me that rest and food wouldn't cure."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Julia laughed, loud and bright but not entirely full of humour. "Yeah that sounds like my mother."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Mother! Now that she'd said it, Nathan could see the resemblance, in mannerisms if not appearance. "She was right," he pointed out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah, she always is. That's the trouble," sighed Julia. Her phone buzzed on the bar in front of her. "Oh excuse me. Hey," she answered warmly, and got up from the bar to take the call. "It sounds like you're a few blocks away. You should see Rosemary's bakery or maybe the Rust Bucket bar? OK so you need to …" Julia's voice faded away behind them as she went outside to meet whoever was on their way over.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dwight glanced after her, vaguely curious. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I think we might finally be about to meet Julia's mysterious not-quite-girlfriend," Duke said to him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Must be difficult when she spends so much time overseas," Dwight commented.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"It sounds like they're making it work. I think the girlfriend works a lot as well, odd hours. Something in law enforcement was it?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A few minutes later, Julia came back in with a small blonde woman that Nathan recognised right away. Julia introduced her to them all as Audrey. "Detective Parker," he said as he shook her hand. "Nice to see you again. Don't expect you remember, but I …"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I remember," she told him, cutting him off. "You were caught up in that whole thing with The Guard. Your statement was very useful Nathan, we put more of them away than we expected to, in the end."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He nodded an acknowledgement at her. "Thank you again."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Just doing my job," she said happily. She turned to the bar and recognised Duke, "Oh hey I didn't realise you were Julia's friend Duke! Nice to see you both again."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>If Julia was thrown by having her introductions pulled out from under her, she didn't show it. They chatted over the bar and a couple drinks until Dwight had to leave and it wasn't long after that Julia looked at the time and realised they had to go as well. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Will we see you again while you're here?" Duke asked Julia as they got their things together. "Do you want to … I don't know, come round for a movie or something? Both of you, obviously. Or hang out on the beach some time?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They looked at each other briefly and Julia nodded. "Sure, sounds nice. Next weekend? Venue depending on the weather?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sounds great,” replied Duke, and refused their attempts to pay for their drinks.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I hope that's OK?" Duke said to Nathan after they'd gone. "I know it's the detective from your … case, that's some unpleasant memories for you. I wouldn’t be offended if you didn’t want to join."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah that's fine. She helped me. She seems nice."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah she does, doesn't she? It's nice to see Julia happy."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"And it will be a novel experience for me to see you make it through a whole movie without getting naked," Nathan said with a smirk. Then added, "Or should I not be assuming …?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I think clothes will be in order," Duke assured him. "Neither of those two would have any interest in anything I have to offer."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Guess someone's got to be immune to your charms."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Well if you say so. Personally I find it outrageous," Duke joked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"What about Dwight?" Nathan asked a moment later.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Hey?" Duke asked, confused. "He's straight."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"No! I mean, yes I know, but should we invite him for movie night as well? Or the beach party or whatever."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah good call," said Duke, reaching for his phone. "Although - two couples and then just Dwight? Is that a bit awkward for him?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Hmmm. He's not seeing anyone, is he?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Not that I know of," said Duke, tapping his fingers on the bar in thought.. "You haven't met Jennifer yet," he said, half to himself.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Don't think so," confirmed Nathan. "You want to invite her too?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I should have got you two to meet long before now. I think I told you about her - she's the journalist who came round when I first opened, wanting to do a story on the dangerous smuggling den of a bar. Helped me out by running a piece about the change of ownership instead. I've been trying to pay her back for that ever since. And it occurs to me that her and Dwight might get on."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Sounds great," Nathan said.</span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0030"><h2>30. Chapter 30</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Saturday afternoon came around and the six of them met up at the quieter end of the beach furthest from town. Between them they brought rugs, beers, snacks, balls and games, and talked and messed around and drank their way through the afternoon into the early evening.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan took the opportunity to talk to Audrey a little more, curious how her and Julia managed a relationship when Audrey worked long unpredictable hours and Julia was out of the country a lot of the time. He was careful not to pry too much, but he was interested in how long-term couples who didn't live together made it work. And even if she didn't give much away on that front, they had a good conversation all the same, and she gave him a new perspective to consider.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"So are you doing OK?" Audrey asked him at one point. "I don't want to dredge up any difficult memories from when we first met but an experience like that must take some getting over."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah in a way it did, but I'm honestly fine. The sessions with Claire really helped, thanks for the recommendation."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"She's really good at her job," Audrey replied, with a touch of sadness, Nathan thought.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Sounds like there's a story there," he commented neutrally, letting Audrey add some more detail or not, as she chose.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"We dated for a while," Audrey admitted after a moment. "It got … complicated."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Sorry, now I'm bringing up painful memories. You and Julia seem really good together," he offered, as though to make up for it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah, we are," Audrey replied happily. "I think it actually helps in way that we don't spend all of our time together. It helps us keep our own lives, our own … I don't know, identities, I suppose? If we lived together, saw each other each and every day … I'm not sure either of us would really be very good at that."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"hmmm," replied Nathan, thoughtfully.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Audrey drained the last of her drink. "That sounds significant," she pointed out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan shook his head, making light of it, but explained, "Just … me and Duke have been together for a while. Lot of people might expect us to move in together about now but … I'm not sure if it would be a good idea."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"So don't do it," replied Audrey simply. "Don't fix what isn't broken. Other people's expectations are a terrible basis on which to make a big decision about your own life."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan nodded, and handed her another drink from the cooler. "Yeah you're right," he realised.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"And you and Duke seem really good together too, if you want my opinion on it. It was clear from the moment I met him that he really cares about you."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan smiled. "I'm really lucky."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Don't sell yourself short. He's a lucky guy too."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan wasn't really sure how to respond to that, all he could manage was a small, "Thanks."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Julia and Jennifer were deep in conversation, he noticed, Jennifer seemed to be picking Julia's brains for a story she was working on. He hadn't seen her talking to Dwight a great deal, but neither of them seemed put out at what was potentially a fairly obvious attempt to set them up. Although, Duke had made a point of introducing her to Nathan first, so maybe it hadn't been quite so obvious. Duke was good at that kind of thing, afterall.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Audrey followed his gaze, and read his thoughts too well, "Duke was hoping Jennifer would spend more time talking to Dwight, huh?" she asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Well, I …" Nathan objected, but he knew he already sounded too flustered to be believable.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Hey it's not a bad thing. It's a sweet idea, setting a couple of friends up. Although, he is literally at least twice her size. If they were a couple I'd be afraid he might squash her by mistake."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan's laugh was so sudden the others all looked over to see if he was alright. "You going to share the joke with the class?" Duke asked from the other side of Jennifer and Julia.</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>"Um, no," replied Nathan.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You had to be there," offered Audrey.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"hmmm," replied Duke, unconvinced.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"So Duke, I hear you spent time in Goa. We were thinking of meeting up out there next time Julia has a break. You got any suggestions for us of places to go or stay?" Audrey got up and repositioned herself as she asked, drawing Julia into the conversation with Duke, and leaving Jennifer in a position to talk to either Nathan or Dwight. Nathan chose that moment to excuse himself to visit the men's room down the other end of the beach, thinking that whether Jennifer and Dwight were well matched or not, it probably didn't hurt to give them a chance to talk.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>In the end Jennifer left first, then Julia and Audrey, with promises to meet up again before Julia left for Tanzania. By the time Dwight called it a day, it was nearly sunset. Finding themselves alone, Nathan and Duke lay on the sand, kissing lazily and then gradually more urgently. Duke rolled on top of Nathan, Nathan pushed his hands into Duke's hair and then all at once they felt each other getting hard and remembered where they were. They pulled out of the kiss and looked around them. It wasn't as busy as it had been, but there were still plenty of people about, plenty of families. Kissing was one thing but this wasn't the time to take it any further. Nathan coughed, Duke murmured "Later" in his ear and rolled off him, the both of them sitting up and pulling their legs up to their chests, resting their elbows on their knees.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You ever have sex on a beach?" Nathan asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Oh yeah," replied Duke happily.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan turned to him and very earnestly asked, "Does the sand get everywhere?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke laughed. "It can do. Depends on the beach though. One time was pebbles so not then, though that was not exactly comfortable on the knees," he added with a grimace, rubbing his kneecaps as though he could still feel it. "On the concrete under the pier's not great for that either, and that can also get kind of wet when you don’t notice the tide coming in.."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan, reeling slightly with the sheer number of examples Duke apparently had to choose from, asked, "Which was the most memorable? Or - that is, if you want to talk about it - you don't have to tell me, obviously."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Well," said Duke, thinking about it, "Most memorable </span>
  <em>
    <span>partner </span>
  </em>
  <span>would have to be Evi. The curves of her dark skin against the pale sand…" Duke seemed lost in the memory for a moment before he continued. "She took it too far though in the end."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Too far?" asked Nathan, surprised.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"For a while it was fun, it was exciting because she was always coming up with these daring schemes, half-public places, ever more inventive ways to be outside or … whatever. For a little while it seemed like we were perfectly matched, but the thing was it was different for her - she got off on the thrill of it, the risk of getting caught, the … inappropriateness of it."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"That's not you," Nathan agreed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"No, it's not and it never was, but she couldn't quite see the distinction. She liked finding ways to get off in public </span>
  <em>
    <span>without</span>
  </em>
  <span> being seen," Duke said, sounding as though he were thinking some of this through for the first time.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan frowned. "How's that work?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Well, it was easier for her, don't forget. No bulge in her pants, no matter how turned on she was. No real mess to clean up when she came. She had this little remote control vibrator thing - she could sit there fully clothed not even moving and get herself off just by pressing a button."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan blinked at Duke for a moment. "Girls have all the fun," he joked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke laughed in disagreement, "Not really. At least, it didn't look like it four days out of the month when she was curled up in pain because her womb was trying to 'crawl its way out of her'."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan shifted his head from side to side as though weighing up the pros and cons for a moment, then laughed. "Point taken."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"It wouldn't show either," Duke said carrying on the story. "Even once I knew her well I had to look for it to see the moment she came. She got off on the fact that no one around her knew what she was doing. She liked the fact they </span>
  <em>
    <span>weren't </span>
  </em>
  <span>looking at her. But yeah, we had some fun for a while. We would go out to a night club, it had these long benches around the tables where we would sit and drink with a shifting crowd of friends, acquaintances, co-workers, whatever. She would wear this long skirt with nothing underneath and just when I was least expecting it she would find a lull in the conversation, a gap in the crowd and just straddle me, pull at my clothes, pull at me and … yeah. One minute I'd be having a drink with a friend, the next minute; I'd be inside her."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You liked the suddenness of it?" Nathan asked, concentrating on his curiosity and ignoring the little spark of jealousy that was competing with it for his attention. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I suppose I did in a way. I liked her, I liked her taking what she wanted from me. I liked her enjoying herself with me. Because, she didn't stay quiet then, those times in the club - she relied on the noise of the music and the crowd to drown out her screams but it didn't always work. We got kicked out a couple of times and then we got barred."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Ah."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah. That should have given me pause, but I was too caught up in her. It didn't slow her down at all; in a way she wanted to get caught I think. Or, that is … she liked getting away with it, but that only meant anything if there was a risk of getting caught, so she kept taking bigger and bigger risks for the thrill of it. We were on the beach one time, tucked away in the shadows under the pier, everyone else out in the blazing sun. It didn't seem like anyone would notice us there, and perhaps they wouldn't have if someone hadn't come in to get their ball."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Oops," replied Nathan sympathetically.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah, it was a bit. By that time we were both completely naked, I was going down on her, she had her legs wrapped round my back, I had my hands on her chest - there was no way to hide what we were doing. I heard this shout and looked up to see this woman staring at us, horrified with the surprise of it. She just stood there open mouthed for a moment and then turned quickly away when she heard her kid calling for her. That was when it hit me that we were taking it too far." Duke shook his head to himself and crossed his legs. "We had a blazing argument about it that night - she wouldn't accept what I was saying, she kept saying everyone else was just too uptight or repressed or whatever; that it was their problem. When I said something about how no one had done anything wrong, that it was us that had the kink, she went mad - turned out she hated that word, said I was shaming her for enjoying sex. Which was completely not what I meant at all."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan gently took Duke's hand.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I had no problem with what she wanted really, but - well I think I said to you before, you have to recognise what other people want as well. Most people do not want to come across people having sex while they are just trying to go about their day. If consent means anything - which it has to - then it has to include that. I mean, you know, the right not to be exposed to sex when you haven't consented to it. For whatever reason, Evi couldn't see that, wouldn't accept it."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Sounds like she had some stuff to work through," Nathan offered.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah, I'd say so. So anyway, I left. I ended things with her and then I packed up and moved on; it was time to see somewhere else anyway. A few months later I heard she got arrested for indecent exposure. I wanted to go back and help her, but I couldn't think of anything useful I could do. I mean it's not like I was in any doubt that she'd actually done it."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Sometimes people don’t want to be helped," Nathan offered.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah well. I don't know where she is now, but I hope she figured it out. Sorry," Duke added, turning to Nathan. "I seem to have brought the mood down."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan shook his head quickly. "No. I seem to have a knack of asking you simple-sounding questions with emotionally-difficult answers."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Well, it's kind of good to talk about it. It's good to tell you about it."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan squeezed Duke's hand and they were quiet for a moment, looking out to sea where the dark water shifted unseen now except for where the waves caught the glint of the street lights behind them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Never have told you much about my ex," Nathan realised.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"That wasn't a hint," Duke assured him quickly. "You don't have to tell me."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Thing is, there isn't much to tell. Not like your stories. We were much more … everyday. Were together a long time, moved in together. For a while I thought it would be forever. But it all just …" Nathan made a motion with his hands, mimed falling apart. "I was studying hard, working a lot - got too focused. And stressed." Nathan took a deep breath. He had worked through a lot of this stuff, come to see things differently (the therapy sessions with Claire had helped) but it was still difficult to talk about how he had messed up. How he had messed up and not even realised. "Stressed and tired and … hadn't learned the lessons from the mistakes my parents made. Wasn't there for him, not like I should have been; can see that now. I was too closed in on myself." Nathan felt his shoulders rounding in a physical echo of that, and straightened his back, trying not to hide from what he was saying. "He got … bored of it bored, of me. He wanted more - more excitement than I could give. Should have seen it wasn't working, but I was too focused on my work." Nathan spoke slowly but clearly and Duke squeezed his hand, listening carefully. "And he … must have been thinking of leaving for a long time before he eventually did. A long time. Either he thought I couldn't cope without him or he was afraid of being alone, I don't know. Maybe both. That was the hardest thing; realising the last few years of my life had been a lie."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke put his arm around Nathan's shoulders. "Shit Nate, I'm sorry."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Should have seen it coming," Nathan said again, as much to himself as anything.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Hey, no one's a mind reader. Don't blame yourself for not being psychic."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan shook his head to clear it. "Yeah, you're right. I know. Took me a while to see it though. Once he left all I had was work and a scattered group of friends who were really his."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"So you moved," Duke said, sounding part impressed, part pleased.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"So I moved," agreed Nathan. "Not always the best strategy, running away from problems. But then, I picked a place with a good view," he finished with a smile as he turned to Duke.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I'm glad you moved here Nate," Duke told him earnestly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah me too," replied Nathan.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They moved forwards for a kiss but at that moment a kid and a dog ran noisily passed them and they paused. "Your place or mine?" Duke asked against Nathan's lips.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Anywhere you'll have me," Nathan replied.</span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0031"><h2>31. Chapter 31</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>They were already kissing deeply and pulling at each other's clothes by the time they closed Nathan's door behind them. They manoeuvred each other into the living room, pulling off sweaters, undoing belts and bumping into only a few pieces of furniture on the way. Nathan pulled Duke tight against him as they kissed, hearing the sounds of arousal and desire from his own throat that he didn't know he was making until they reached his ears.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke pulled out of the kiss and put a hand on Nathan's chest, holding him just too far away. Nathan tried to push forward, his throat expressing his frustrated desire when he could no longer reach Duke's lips.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke grinned. "I love that look on you," he observed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Look?" asked Nathan dubiously. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"The way you want me. Like you can hardly wait to touch me."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Can't!" agreed Nathan. "So come here."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke bent his elbow a fraction, bringing Nathan just a little closer. Nowhere near close enough. "How about," Duke suggested, "You wait for me so I can soak up that look on your face, and then I'll go down on you."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You are good at that," Nathan acknowledged. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Worth waiting for?" Duke asked. "No touching."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"No …?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"No touching anything," Duke stated firmly. "Wait for me. Good idea? Bad idea?" He pushed Nathan backwards a little and stepped further away from him until he was standing in front of the window, his back facing out towards the beach, though they were too far away and high up for anyone down there to see them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan hesitated, standing where he had been put, but shifting his weight from foot to foot as his hands clenched and unclenched in a demonstration of his frustration and indecision. "Yeah, like that," said Duke with a smile as he pushed off the rest of his clothes. "I know you like the view."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yes, but …"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"And I think you like the wait, too."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan simply whined. He didn't even try not to. Duke grinned at him. "Change your mind any time you like, but if you can stand to wait for me I'm going to give you a great show to watch and I'm going to make you see stars when I go down on you afterwards."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan nodded, and came to a decision. He looked from Duke to the window he stood in front of, the view of the beach behind him. "Almost looks like you're still on the beach," Nathan commented, exaggeration though that was. The view from where Nathan was showed Duke's shoulders against a distant strip of sand, his head against the sky; from his waist down his body was framed by the wall. But it was enough to spark a fantasy, enough to pretend they might still be down there, feeling the sun on their skin and the sand between their toes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke turned around briefly, checking the view, then back to Nathan. "Maybe I am," Duke agreed. "Maybe there's another </span>
  <em>
    <span>sex on the beach </span>
  </em>
  <span>story I haven't told you yet, and maybe it happened down there. Or maybe, back in the day before I figured out some sensible boundaries, that beach down there is somewhere I took things too far and decided to show off on my own."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Lucky for you everyone likes the view," said Nathan, reaching towards his flies. This was a familiar pattern for them; talking, fantasing, jerking off together, watching each other. Even just a few years ago he never would have expected to have a relationship where that was such a common part of their sex life, but it worked. Somehow with Duke it worked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Ah!" said Duke. "No touching."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan whined again but he stilled his hand.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You're outside remember, on the beach. You can't. No matter how much you want me, we haven't met yet and you are too respectable to jerk off in public. All you can do is watch." Duke stroked himself in a slow, lazy rhythm that Nathan loved to watch but which also told him he wasn't going to get his turn any time soon.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Am not the only one," Nathan told him. "Beach is crowded and everyone's watching you. Everyone wants you."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Everyone?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Every single person that's here," Nathan told him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke closed his eyes and leant back against the window frame. "What do they want?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>You</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Nathan thought, but he knew Duke was looking for specifics. "Your hands," he said. "Wrapped around their own cock, stroking them just like that. Or pushing up inside them, finding where they want to be touched. Everyone here is either hard or wet Duke, just from watching you."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke opened his eyes again, watching Nathan. "Yeah?" he said, asking for more.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"They want your hands on them, or your cock inside them, or both at once. They want your mouth wrapped around them or their tongue pressed against yours. They want to touch you everywhere, they want to watch what you're doing, they want to see you come. No one here can believe how lucky they are to get to watch someone so beautiful as you." Nathan's fists clenched and unclenched at his sides, frustrated with the delicious effort of waiting. "You know what else?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"What?" Duke asked. Nathan could hear the tension grow in his voice; he was getting close, and the rhythm of his hand shifted up a gear.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Might be all we can do right now is watch, but once the show's over everyone's going home and you know what they're going to do as soon as they get there? Replay it over in their mind as they get themselves off to the image of you standing in front of them."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Fuck," Duke muttered and reached out with his free hand to balance himself against the wall.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah," Nathan told them. "Going to be fantasising about it for weeks, the sight of you standing on the beach like that, all exposed to the world. A whole crowd of people loving the view, all of us watching and wanting and frustrated with the fact we don’t get to touch."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan eagerly watched the way Duke's face scrunched up and the tensing of muscles all over his body as he came. As he moaned through the last of his orgasm, Duke relaxed back against the wall, the tension falling out of his body. He stood up then, looking over at Nathan with a grin. "You got one part of that wrong you know," he said happily.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"um…?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You said no one in the crowd could do anything but watch but you're wrong. Everyone else might be going home alone, but I saw the way you were watching me and I loved it. I'm tempted to go down on you right here on the beach, but everyone else is too interested and I want you for myself. Just for me alone. I spotted you in the crowd and now I'm taking you home." Duke took Nathan's hand and led him into the bedroom. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan went willingly, and happily let Duke pull the clothes from his skin once they got there. "You're so beautiful Nate," Duke told him. "Everyone in that crowd was beautiful, but I picked you to take home with me, you know why?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"No," said Nathan.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Because you are the most beautiful of all," Duke told him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah?" Nathan replied, not entirely believing it but happy to go along with the fantasy. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"The way you look at me, like I'm the only thing you've ever wanted. The way you talk to me like I'm so … precious. Talk to me Nate," Duke asked him as he pushed Nathan back against the bed and went down on his knees in front of him. "Talk to me until you can't any more."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And so Nathan talked, part of him still wondering in disbelief that he - who had always been too self conscious before Duke to hardly talk during sex at all, let alone to say what he liked or ask for what he wanted - was now happily praising Duke at every opportunity, asking for more of what he wanted, reminding Duke of the blissful things he had done to him before. And in between all of that, praising Duke in any other way he could think of; how beautiful he had looked against the window just now as he came, how much Nathan loved to watch him, how well the two of them fitted together. He talked and moaned and gasped for breath every time Duke flicked his tongue </span>
  <em>
    <span>just so</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and the moans and the gasps got longer and more frequent and the words gradually faded away until it was all he could do to cling to the bed and call Duke's name as he came, carried away on a wave of bliss.</span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0032"><h2>32. Chapter 32</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It was the next day and they had spent Sunday afternoon in their usual pattern of relaxing on the sofa with some food and a movie. It had been a nice day, and a good movie probably, but Nathan hadn’t really taken it in. He was distracted. As much as he had been happy to talk about exes with Duke yesterday, and as much as he was fairly sure he had processed most of the issues that had arisen from his (and as much as that spark of jealousy about Evi had faded to nothing once he thought about it), there was still something bothering him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was the end of the day and they turned off the TV, locked the door and went through to the bedroom to get ready for sleep. There was a moment here and Nathan knew that if he didn’t say something now he never would. And even though it might be a small thing, it was the kind of small thing that would eat at him. So just as Duke was walking towards the bathroom, Nathan stopped him. "Duke promise me something. Never stay with me out of pity."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke turned around to him in surprise. "What? Nathan! Why would I ever …?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Don't promise me forever - can’t know how we might change or what might happen but just ... if how you feel about me changes, just … don't hide it."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke took a deep breath, ran his hands through his hair and stepped a little closer. "OK first of all, I cannot imagine not wanting you in my life, in my bed. But if somehow I turn into some strange creature who can't see how wonderful you are, then of course I would tell you. I don't sleep with people out of pity," Duke said firmly, sounding faintly disgusted by the idea. "There's only ever going to be one reason I sleep with you Nate, and that's because I want to. Because the way you look at me makes my stomach feel hollow and the way you talk to me makes my heart skip a beat and the touch of your hands makes my cock twitch. I said to you right at the start that none of this works at all without honesty."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah you did. Sorry, yeah I know you did," Nathan looked down at his hands as they curled into tight fists and then slowly relaxed his fingers out straight.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You know why I said that? Because I meant it."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan nodded, and looked up at Duke. "I know you did Duke, I'm sorry. Am doubting myself, not you." Nathan sat down on the side of the bed, feeling heavy.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke frowned at him. "Doubting yourself how exactly?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Just … overthinking. Do that sometimes. Just, talking about my ex yesterday. Reminded me…” Nathan sighed, “... he lied to my face and I never saw it. Spent months saying he loved me when he didn't and I never saw the lie. It's not," he added quickly, "that I think you're going to lie to me just … if I didn't see that lie, how can I trust myself to know if I'd see another? How can I be sure of anything?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke joined Nathan on the bed and they sat in thoughtful silence for a good long while.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"That ex of yours?" Duke said eventually. "Was a fucking idiot. I don't care what happened with the two of you, I don't care if you were the most useless boyfriend in the world (which I highly doubt by the way), he should have found a way to talk to you, to tell you what he was thinking, to be honest with you."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Don't suppose I made it easy for him. To talk to me."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"He should have found a way!" Duke insisted, standing up again with the force of his conviction. "If it was important enough to become something he'd leave you over - or, even if it wasn't! Whatever it was, if it was bothering him, he should have told you."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Might have been that he couldn't be honest with himself," Nathan admitted. For a long time he hadn't wanted to see that. It had been easier to be angry at someone deliberately lying to him than to feel understanding for someone unable to see the mess they had got themselves in. But now he could see it was probably true.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke huffed. "Well, that's just another way to be an idiot," he said dismissively, then seemed to change his mind. "OK maybe that was a bit harsh. It's not necessarily an easy thing to know yourself inside out."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah," agreed Nathan.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"But look," began Duke earnestly, "Does it seem to you like that's a problem for either of us at the moment? Do I seem to you like someone who hides from what he wants?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Despite himself, Nathan laughed at that. "No," he admitted. "No you do not."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"And you?" When Nathan didn't answer, Duke suggested one for him. "It might be true you tend to be more private than me, more reserved. But you also think things through, carefully and deeply. You've obviously thought a lot about what happened and I'm guessing you learned some lessons from it. I'm guessing you probably talked to Claire about it too. You don't seem like the kind of man who repeats the mistakes of a lesson you've already learned."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Slowly, Nathan nodded. "Guess that's true," he agreed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke watched him carefully for a moment, as though to make sure the point had sunk in, and then nodded; a little confirmation as though seeing that it had. When he spoke again his tone was lighter. "There's only ever going to be one reason I sleep with you Nathan Wuornos, and that is because I want to." The tone of his voice shifted again as he talked, into something deeper, more intense. "Because of the way your beautiful face looks at me. Because of the way your gorgeous hands reach for me. Because of the way your arms feel wrapped around me, the way your tongue presses against mine, the way you talk to me, the way you … because of </span>
  <em>
    <span>you </span>
  </em>
  <span>Nathan." As he spoke he pulled Nathan towards him, pushed their bodies together and rolled his hips to make sure Nathan could feel how he was getting hard already just talking about them together. "That feel like pity to you?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan started to shake his head, then changed his mind and, trying not to smirk too much, said, "Not sure. Need more evidence to make a firm conclusion."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke stared at him for a moment and they both burst out laughing. "I'll give you a 'firm conclusion'," Duke promised, pulling at Nathan's belt and punctating his sentence with a thrust of his hips.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Oh my god. You did not just make that joke," said Nathan in amused disbelief. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Me?! It was your joke!" protested Duke, pushing Nathan back onto the bed and pulling his jeans from his legs.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan lay back laughing and let Duke pull the jeans and socks from him. Duke kissed his way up Nathan's legs to pull the tshirt over his head and then with a comedy wiggle of his eyebrows asked, "So what kind of 'firm conclusion' would you like exactly?" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan dissolved into fits of laughter. He tried to stop but had reached that point where the laughter takes on a life of its own, perpetuating itself at the slightest prompt. "I swear … not what I meant … you are so ridiculous." </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke kissed along Nathan's ribs, finding all his ticklish spots and making him laugh even more. Duke pulled off his shorts to lie naked alongside a still-laughing Nathan and pushed his erection against Nathan's hip. "Firm enough for you?" he joked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Oh my god," Nathan managed in between laughing. Duke took one moment pretending to be outraged and then dissolved into laughter as well. He reached for Nathan's ribs again but Nathan cut him off, reaching out to tickle him instead, and soon they were both struggling for breath in between laughing and yelping with outraged surprise as they tickled and rolled each other across the bed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"OK wait … stop," Nathan panted between laughs that made it difficult to breathe, and flopped back on the bed. Duke leaned over him, grinning. Duke was breathing hard too, but Nathan was completely out of breath and energy, muscles gone floppy with the force of his laughter and the extent of Duke's tickling. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"</span>
  <em>
    <span>Stop</span>
  </em>
  <span>, stop?" Duke asked, running a fingertip lightly across Nathan's ribs. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan sucked in a breath and felt his whole body shudder with the gentle almost-tickly touch that Duke had pitched just right to cut pleasantly through what the more vigorous tickling had done to him. “Only if you want me to be able to move,” Nathan replied after a moment, only half-joking.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke brought his lips to Nathan’s ear to murmur in a low intense voice that went straight to Nathan’s cock. “You don’t need to move. Stay still and let me play with all the different ways you like to be touched.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan moaned and stretched his arms out to give Duke better access. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Good idea?” asked Duke, arousal battling for amusement in his voice.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” replied Nathan.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And so Duke ran his palms and his fingertips and his lips and his tongue over Nathan’s body and Nathan gasped and writhed and moaned and wriggled, breathing into the sensations and the pleasure that pulsed through him. “I’m going to have to use those straps of yours to tie you to the bed one of these days,” Duke commented.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan moaned an agreement but was not particularly interested in engaging in the movement or the pause in activities that would require right now. Another time was a good idea. For now all he wanted to do was relax into Duke’s touch and soak up the pleasure. It was all he could do to remember how his mouth worked when Duke pressed their lips together. He tried not to come the moment Duke’s mouth sank down around his cock. He managed an enthusiastic nod when Duke asked him a question and then Duke was pushing inside him, that familiar </span>
  <em>
    <span>too full</span>
  </em>
  <span> feeling eclipsed a moment later when Duke’s cock hit just the right spot. And then everything collapsed down to pleasure and to Duke; Duke’s hips thrusting against hip, cock pulsing inside him, Duke’s hands moving over his chest and stomach, fingers scraping across nipples, palms pressing against ribs. Duke’s hand cupping his balls and stroking his cock. Duke’s chest pressed tight against his back and his lips by his ear as Duke whispered to him; words that Nathan didn’t catch but heard the tone of, understood the intent of.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Everything was Duke; there was nothing in the world but pleasure at Duke’s hands, and Nathan’s voice as he called Duke’s name over and over and over again. He was dimly aware of Duke’s increasing moans as his hips stuttered harder against him for a moment, and then his own pleasure peaked and the world faded out completely.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>By the time he came back to himself enough to open his eyes, Duke was coming back from the bathroom and snuggling up against him. He planted a soft kiss on Nathan’s lips and then pulled back a little to look at him more closely. “You look dazed,” he said, sounding like he felt the same way himself.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan nodded, “Yeah. In’good way,” he added.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I love you Nathan, you know that, right?” Duke asked earnestly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan put the effort into properly opening and focusing his eyes on Duke’s to reply. “I do. And I love you too. Love the two of us together.” He was a different person now than he had been with his ex, and it was an entirely different kind of relationship. And part of that was him, and the fact that he was older and wiser, and that he’d learned from the experience, as Duke had pointed out. But part of it was Duke as well; the way they fitted together, the side of him that Duke brought out, the way Duke made him feel relaxed and comfortable and so thoroughly </span>
  <em>
    <span>at home </span>
  </em>
  <span>in a way he didn’t think he’d ever really felt before.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Me too,” said Duke happily, looking at least as dazed as Nathan felt, and they drifted off to sleep together, arms draped softly over each other.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0033"><h2>33. Chapter 33</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Duke tasted the contents of the pot he was stirring and added another pinch of seasoning. Nathan finished washing up the crockery Duke had used to prepare it so far, and came to stand behind him, arms round his waist and head on his shoulder. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You want to come to this work social thing with me next week?" Nathan asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Sure," replied Duke easily, still stirring. "What kind of work social thing?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"A non-retirement party."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Hey?” Duke laughed. “How's that work?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Seems the department started organising a retirement party for Gloria without realising she has no intention of doing any such thing. So they decided to go with it anyway. She's been there forever, did her undergraduate degree there, so officially it's a lifetime achievement thing. But everyone's calling it the non-retirement party."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Fair enough, yeah sure. What day?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Friday. That work? I know it's busy in the bar,” Nathan acknowledged.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"It should be fine, as long as I can confirm the extra shifts so there's enough people to cover. I'll let you know … Wednesday?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Great. I know you haven't met Gloria, but should be a few people you know; Stan said he'd be there, Laverne too. And Rafferty usually goes to these kinds of things."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"OK cool,” replied Duke and tasted the dish again. “It's in the college?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah. Come find me in my office around 6pm?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Sounds good," Duke agreed. "OK this is almost ready. D'you want to open the wine?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was 6.30pm on Friday when Duke and Nathan made their way into Gloria’s non-retirement party, already in full swing. They found the bar, got themselves a drink and scanned the room as they sipped their beers appreciatively. "</span>
  <em>
    <span>Ohmigod </span>
  </em>
  <span>is that </span>
  <em>
    <span>Chris Brody</span>
  </em>
  <span>?" Duke asked, amazed, eyes fixed on a guy in the far corner.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan rolled his eyes. "He did that </span>
  <em>
    <span>one</span>
  </em>
  <span> TV show and everyone's fawning over him," he complained.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke turned to Nathan, a skeptical look on his face. "Are you really telling me there isn't </span>
  <em>
    <span>any</span>
  </em>
  <span> part of you that likes working in the same place as a TV star?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan hesitated. "Minor TV star," he pointed out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke took this as an admission of agreement. "I knew it," he said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Oh there's Gloria," said Nathan. "We should say hello."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Don't think I didn't notice you changing the subject," Duke said, sounding amused as he followed Nathan over to Gloria.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Gloria, this is Duke. Duke, this is Gloria. Who is not retiring."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wuornos,” she nodded in greeting and then looked carefully at Duke for a long moment. "Didn't I buy weed from you?" she asked eventually.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke laughed, and a flicker of recognition crossed his face, laced through with a touch of wariness. "That was a long time ago," he pointed out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"hmmm, shame," said Gloria. "These people keep telling me to slow down, I'm going to need something to smoke if they get their way."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke laughed again, sounding slightly more relaxed, and Nathan looked from one of them to the other in disbelief.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Oh come on don't look so surprised," Gloria said to Nathan. "Everyone needs a bit of something to cope with life now and then. So this is your beau? What's that awful phrase they use now, 'significant other'?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Um …" Nathan rubbed the side of his head, suddenly self conscious.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yes," said Duke, answering for him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gloria nodded, as though Duke were her student and he'd just given her the correct answer to a complicated question. "Look after each other," she told them, looking from one of them to the other fiercely. "Life's too short to be faffing around with relationships that don't work."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"We, um…. yes," Nathan managed, surprised by this sudden onslaught of honesty and goodwill.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gloria turned to see someone calling her from the other side of the room. "Urgh, I've got to go. They want me to cut a cake like I'm some kind of damn celebrity or something."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And with that she was gone. "Oh I like her," said Duke with feeling.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah she's um … she's Gloria," Nathan replied. "Place wouldn't be the same without her."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They sipped at their beers and wandered around the room, mingling in that slightly self conscious way that was inevitably the case until a party got going. They said hello to a few people Nathan knew a little and stopped to chat to some he knew a bit better. It was a while before he realised that Duke was subtly steering them towards the corner with Chris Brody in it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You know he's just a lecturer like the rest of us," Nathan protested. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yes," agreed Duke. "A lecturer like the rest of you who has also been on TV."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan frowned at him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Oh come on, I just want to say hello, shake his hand. That stuff he did about the coral reefs was really interesting and I think some of the things he was saying really helped to get people thinking about the environment and marine pollution. It’s important stuff."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"OK, fair point," Nathan admitted. He looked over and saw that one of the people Chris was talking to was in his department, that would make it easier to join the conversation. "Come on then," he said, and led Duke over there.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>In the end he was glad he did. Duke and Chris had an interesting conversation about coral reefs and diving, and Nathan met a couple of other colleagues he hadn't really spoken to before. At one point there were a few of them stood round listening to Chris talk. He seemed to have a slightly love/hate relationship with the attention his TV fame brought him from what Nathan could tell, or perhaps just a limited tolerance for it, and Nathan thought he could see the moment Chris reached that limit. He finished up his story and turned to the elegant-looking woman next to him who was listening politely but without the same rapt attention the rest of them were. "You know Charlotte? She's just joined us from the CDC."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Oh yes, Charlotte Cross, right?" replied Nathan. "I heard you were joining but we haven't met yet." He introduced himself and Duke, and Chris used that distraction to slip away. Charlotte seemed to be the only one immune to his charms Nathan noticed, perhaps simply because her resume was impressive enough in its own right. They spoke to her about her professional experience for a while, and then her and Duke discovered a shared interest in yoga and the conversation turned to discussion of nearby yoga classes and the pros and cons to practicing at home.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Not really having much to say on the subject of yoga, Nathan kept his opinions on the pros and cons of Duke practicing at home to himself. And then Charlotte tried to bring him back into the conversation by asking him how they'd met, and he had to take a gulp of his beer to hide his smile.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan was trying to extricate himself from a complicated technical discussion that he would have been much more interested in if it hadn’t been Friday night, and much more able to contribute to if he didn’t already have a few beers inside him. He finally managed to slip away, with promises to continue the discussion on Monday, and went in search of Duke. He’d last seen him drinking with Rafferty, which was not necessarily a problem except he had a feeling she could out-drink anyone there (except possibly Gloria) and he did not really want to have to carry Duke home (or pull him out of a bush) if he was talked into one beer too many.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He found Duke eventually with Gloria. They were standing at the edge of the space watching the crowd. Duke pointed his whiskey glass towards someone taking a slightly wobbly path across the room towards the doors.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fifty on the big guy puking up outside on his way home,” Nathan heard Duke say and watched Gloria nod in acceptance of the bet.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Twenty says Rafferty regrets that tomorrow,” Gloria offered, nodding towards where Rebecca was dancing enthusiastically with someone who was looking at her like all his christmasses had come at once.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re betting on people?” Nathan asked, trying to get his head around what he was hearing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“People watching,” protested Duke.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“With gambling,” clarified Gloria.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan looked from one of them to the other in bemusement. “Twenty what exactly?” he asked, not wanting to take anything for granted.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Only cents,” Duke said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uh huh,” Nathan replied slowly. “And who stands to win the most out of this?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Both of them shrugged at the same time. Nathan looked from one identical shrug to the other, realising that they had a lot more in common than he would have expected.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh wow, look at that. Fifty says that rumour’s all around college by Monday.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan followed their gaze, and he couldn’t help but agree.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0034"><h2>34. Chapter 34</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In which I try to write a scene with snorkelling which I know absolutely nothing about. Apologies to the word of snorkelling for the inevitable errors. </p><p>Thank you to <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreyHaven/pseuds/GreyHaven">GreyHaven</a> for the sense check (of non-snorkelling-related descriptions) and the overall enthusiasm :) If anyone else manages to read this far, it would be lovely to hear from you, any time! :)</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Nathan pushed out of the water spluttering and coughing for the third time in ten minutes. Which admittedly was less often than had happened at the start, but he was still frustrated. He wasn't getting it. He pulled the snorkel mask from his face and ran his hands through his wet hair. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He was distracted from his irritation with himself for a moment by the sight of Duke joining him, pushing smoothly out of the water nearby, impossibly graceful in his movements as the water shed itself around him and dripped from his hair. The sunlight caught the water drops as they ran down the smooth curves of his skin, accentuating every muscle. Duke pulled the mask from his own face and asked Nathan what was up. Nathan's eyes followed the path of a drop of water down Duke's chest, down his stomach and down… when it hit the waistband of his shorts he looked back to Duke's face to focus on the question, but Duke had seen him looking and was grinning at him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Not sure this is for me," Nathan said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke considered this. "I think you just need more practice, but if you're not enjoying it it's fair enough. Nothing is for everyone."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Enjoying it when I'm not drowning," Nathan protested. He didn't want to give up so soon - how hard could it be, really?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You don't appear to have drowned yet," Duke pointed out gently.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan looked around him. This could be a nice way to spend some time if he could get his head round it. "Show me again," he asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Half an hour later and he hadn't half-drowned once. Nathan realised that Duke was a good teacher, and that he was having fun. Possibly not something he'd want to do every week, but it was interesting for a change.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They spent another hour or so exploring and then the day started to get late, a chill crept into the air and they agreed it was time to head home. They packed up their stuff, ran towels over their hair, and walked back along the beach towards the sidewalk. "Thanks for the lesson, this was fun," Nathan said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You're very welcome, we can always come again if you want."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Maybe. You know what my favourite part of the day is?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"What?" asked Duke sounding amused, something about the tone of Nathan's voice telling him this was not about to be a serious discussion about diving.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan lowered his voice towards a whisper a little. "Everyone here stealing glances at you. But I'm the one taking you home."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yes you are," said Duke, sounding thoroughly happy with the idea. "So have you got plans for me?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Until that moment, besides being slightly hungry, Nathan had not thought past the fact that he was lucky enough to have the most beautiful man on the beach at his side. So he was about to respond with something vague to play for time, when an image popped into his head and he grinned. "Yes," he said firmly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Then let's go!" replied Duke with a grin of his own.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan tried to look after himself, but his weakness was a sweet tooth that meant his favourite breakfast food (his favourite any-time-of-the-day food) was pancakes that he often covered with a variety of gloopy, sweet, sticky sauces and toppings. And that meant that his kitchen was always very well stocked with jars of maple syrup, honey, chocolate sauce and cream. And right now, he was imagining any and all of them trickling their lazy way down Duke's torso for him to enjoy watching and then licking off to clear the way for more.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan closed his front door behind him and they kissed against it, the bedroom to one side, the kitchen to the other. Duke started pulling at Nathan's shirt buttons and moved towards the bedroom. Nathan pulled him back the other way, pointing out, "Said I had plans for you."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Kitchen-based plans?" asked Duke, allowing himself to be led through to a spot between the table and the cupboards. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Watching water droplets earlier," Nathan explained with a fingertip down Duke's chest. "Want to see something else dripping down you."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke didn't reply and Nathan looked back up at him. "Bad idea?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke shook his head quickly. "No," he replied earnestly. "What kind of something?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan didn't answer right away, kissing him instead and pulling at his tshirt, running his hands up Duke's ribs to push it over his head. “These need to go,” he said, flicking the waistband of Duke’s shorts and turning to the cupboard to consider his options. He took out a bottle of chocolate sauce and Duke (having happily discarded his shorts) peered at the label. "That's good stuff," he said approvingly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan nodded in agreement. "Very chocolatey. Very … gloopy," he added, looking from the bottle to Duke's skin.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Sticky too," Duke pointed out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yep," agreed Nathan, undoing the lid. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Might take a lot of licking off," Duke warned him, faux-serious with a little glint in his eye.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan felt the corner of his mouth stretch into a smile. He reached forward and tipped a thumb-sized drop onto Duke's collarbone, midway between his neck and right shoulder. The rich chocolate sauce stood out dark and glossy against Duke's relatively-pale skin, and it was just the right consistency; thick enough that for an instant it hardly moved at all, then started to sink down his body. Nathan added another drop to it and watched the trail run a little faster, over chest muscle towards his nipple. He could see Duke’s face out of the corner of his eye, who was switching between watching the path of the sauce and following the expression on Nathan's face. When chocolate hit nipple, Nathan darted forward and licked it off, tongue wide and flat against Duke's skin. He let out a little moan of pleasure and surprise, louder even than Duke's. "You taste of the sea," he said. "Turned it into salted chocolate."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke grinned at him and Nathan poured a horizontal line of sauce along the left half of Duke's collarbone, watching as it gradually formed itself into three vertical ones to make its way down his chest. There was something slightly hypnotic about the slow movement of the trails of black chocolate being pulled inexorably downwards by the impact of gravity and leaving Duke's skin marked and flavoured in their wake. And perhaps Duke thought so too, because Nathan suddenly noticed that he was watching just as intently.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You like watching yourself?" Nathan asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Sometimes," admitted Duke after a moment. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan reached his hand towards Duke's slowly stiffening cock; caressing and pulling, stroking and squeezing until he was fully hard. Duke watched this the whole time, rapt attention on his face. "Like watching yourself get hard," Nathan said, more of an observation than a question. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah," Duke agreed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Got a mirror in the bedroom,” Nathan pointed out, referring to the full length mirror that had been on the wardrobe door when he’d moved in.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke’s eyes snapped up to Nathan’s, his arousal clear on his face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah?” asked Nathan. “C’m on then,” he said. He picked up the sauce, took a step towards the bedroom and reached out a hand to Duke, who quickly followed him. Nathan stopped him at the door of the bedroom for a moment while he closed the drapes, then beckoned him in and put his hands on Duke’s shoulders to position him in front of the mirror. “Want to watch you watching yourself,” Nathan told him. “Watching what I do to you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke moaned, and reached a hand out to his left to steady himself against the wall. Nathan opened the other wardrobe door so he could put the bottle of sauce on one of the shelves inside, but first he added another thick line to Duke’s right collarbone, creating more sticky and sweet dark lines of chocolate running down over his skin. He watched until they reached almost down to Duke’s stomach, then ducked his head to run his tongue up one of them. He pressed the tip of his tongue tight against the curves of Duke’s stomach and chest, tasting the chocolate mixed in with the salt of the sea and the warmth of Duke’s skin. He thought about kissing Duke, with the chocolate still on his tongue, but that would get in the way of the whole ‘watching’ concept, so he stood to the side and ran a finger up one of the trails on the left of his body instead, wiping some of the chcolate off, smearing some of it into Duke’s skin and leaving a messy trail behind - evidence that he had been there, a record of how Duke had been touched. Nathan brought his chocolate-covered finger from Duke’s chest to his mouth to lick it off, and a drop of sauce fell mid-way, landing on Duke’s eager erection. Duke bit his lip at the sight, but Nathan calmly carried on with what he was doing, licking the chocolate from his finger and telling Duke, “Get to that in a minute.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>For a moment he just watched Duke, taking in the view. That gorgeous body being made messy with chocolate sauce. The way Duke’s ribs expanded as he breathed; sharp little out breaths and quick, shallow in ones. The look on Duke’s face as he watched his reflection, eyes wandering over the chocolate trails and his waiting cock. Then Nathan bent to lick another chocolate trail clean, next to the first one he’d tasted. “Love the taste of you,” he murmured against Duke’s skin before he moved to the next one. Then having licked the right side of Duke’s torso (mostly) clean, he moved his hand back to the left. He took a finger to the longest trail, wiping the chocolate away at first as he moved his hand up Duke’s body, then inevitably smearing it as it fell over his finger. Then he moved his hand to the side a little, catching another trail and adding another finger, smearing a wide arc of chocolate across Duke’s chest to the other side. He punctuated it with two finger prints; evidence that it was him who was leaving these marks behind. He looked at the pattern for a moment, then added another curving line beneath the first; arching across Duke’s chest above his nipples, and then a third beneath. “Could spend all day painting patterns on your skin,” Nathan said, realising as he said it that it was true. “Have to find something more colourful next time. Body paints maybe. Get a brush,” he mused. “Colour you in. You’d be a work of art. More than you are already,” he added.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke looked towards him then, something like bemused awe on his face, but Nathan put a finger to his jaw to turn him gently back towards the mirror, “Ah ah, watch yourself,” he instructed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan switched his gaze between what he was doing and Duke’s face, as he ran his fingers up the remaining trail of chocolate, then let another drip fall from his finger towards Duke’s cock. Duke’s eyes fluttered closed for a moment. “Watch,” Nathan told him, and drew a line of sauce up the length of Duke’s cock before sinking to his knees to lick that off too. He took Duke’s cock in his mouth, picturing for a moment what they looked like, imagining the look on Duke’s face. But he didn’t stay there for too long because he had something else in mind, to make better use of the mirror. He stood up and reached for the sauce again, adding more lines that ran in trails over Duke’s skin, merging with and running over the existing ones, gravity pulling them (and their eyes) down Duke’s body to his glistening, waiting cock.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Then Nathan stood behind him, watching Duke’s face in the mirror, curling his fingers around Duke’s hips for a moment. “Stay there,” he said as he stepped away, moving towards the bedside cabinet. “Going to fuck you right there so you can watch yourself come.” He grabbed the lube and returned to his position behind Duke, pressing close against him to ask, “Good idea?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke nodded eagerly, but Nathan wanted to hear it. “Good idea?” he asked again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes, yeah Nate, yes ... please,” Duke replied, voice tight with desire.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan grinned as he shed the rest of his clothes and opened the lube. Duke was practically shuddering in front of him, he noticed, ripples of tension running over his skin. Nathan pressed his mouth close to Duke’s ear to murmur, “Watch yourself. Watch what I do to you.” And then Nathan watched Duke’s face in the mirror too, even as he pushed inside of him, his own pleasure pulsing through him as he tried to focus on his movements, on Duke’s reaction as he saw his hips pushed forwards by Nathan’s. Every thrust of Nathan’s hips shifted Duke’s forward too, and Duke moved his hands to the mirror in front of him to steady himself. Each thrust shifted Duke’s hips forward, and his waiting cock closer to the mirror. Nathan pushed a hand around Duke’s ribs, into the trails of sauce, messing him up further, and he watched as Duke’s attention switched back and forth between Nathan’s hand his own cock, hard and eager, shifting back and forth in time with Nathan’s thrusts. And in between watching the look of rapture on Duke’s face, Nathan tried to concentrate on finding the rhythm, the angle that he knew Duke liked. He brought his hand back to Duke’s hips, smearing chocolate over him further, gripping him tightly in order to push against him that little bit harder. Part of him wanted to ask if this was good for him, but speaking right now would be a challenge, and the look on Duke’s face seemed to make the question redundant.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And then Duke spoke instead, “C’n I …?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was always a thrill to be asked for permission, but Nathan concentrated on answering, slowing in his movements for a moment. “Can do whatever you want. So long as you watch,” he told him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke’s hand moved from the mirror in front of him to his cock, eyes focused on it as his hand wrapped around himself and Duke matched the rhythm of his hand to the way his hips shifted forward with each of Nathan’s thrusts. Nathan closed his eyes for a moment, concentrating for a while on finding again that rhythm to his hips that he knew Duke liked. And then even as some deeper part of him pushed Nathan towards a rhythm that was his alone, he almost didn’t want this to end. It had to though, of course. He pushed his whole body against Duke’s, curled his fingers tight against the soft skin at Duke’s hips and concentrated for a moment long enough to whisper, “Love you,” in his ear. Then he simply relaxed into the pleasure, letting his hips move almost of their own accord, taking him up to that point of release, calling Duke’s name as he came. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke’s orgasm hit a moment later, giving Nathan just enough time to open his eyes and see the moment Duke’s face creased up in bliss, his eyes finally fluttering shut for a moment as his whole body tensed. Then he opened them again and found Nathan’s eyes in the mirror as he rode through the last waves of his pleasure. “Love you too,” he said breathless and sated.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0035"><h2>35. Chapter 35</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It was Sunday afternoon and Duke was scrolling through Nathan's Netflix watch list, phone on the table between them as they finished a late lunch. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"'People You May Know'," said Duke dubiously, reading the description. "This sounds like far too much romcom."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Nathan looked across to the screen, "Sean Maher's in it," he pointed out. "Simon Tam from Firefly."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Duke looked again, "Oh yeah so it is. Yeah maybe then, it might be interesting to see him in something different. You'd make a good Simon Tam, you know," he added after a moment.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Because of my fine table manners?" joked Nathan, making a show of spearing the last morsel of food on his plate with his fork.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Duke laughed. "Yeah that and you look good in a suit. And you do have that doctorate and all. And that cautious little smile, those reserved tendencies, there's that intensity about you when you're angry, the way you …"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Alright, alright, stop describing me," Nathan quoted.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Duke grinned at him. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"So if I'm Simon who's that make you?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Do you really even need to ask? Clearly I am Malcolm Reynolds," Duke replied as he took their empty plates over to the sink. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Hmmmm, Capt'n Tight Pants? Yeah I can see that. And you'd make a good ship captain, flying just out of reach of the Alliance."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Exactly," Duke nodded. "So shall we give this movie a go?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Yeah sure. I'll just do the dishes," said Nathan. There wasn't much to do, he'd done most of it while Duke had been cooking.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"OK but actually first I wanted to ask you something," said Duke, sitting back down at the table next to him. "Or rather, not ask you something. I wanted to acknowledge that I haven't asked you something."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"OK," said Nathan cautiously. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"It's just that I think a lot of people find it odd that we haven't moved in together by now. Which I don't think there's much need for because we work really well like this. But … I suppose I just wanted to check what you think."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Nathan relaxed; he'd been meaning to bring this up himself. "Yeah I agree. Might be the obvious thing to do, but that's not enough of a reason. We do work well like this. No sense changing for the sake of it."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Duke looked kind of relieved as he agreed. "Exactly. And when we have such different work schedules and everything, I'm not sure it'd even mean we actually saw much more of each other anyway."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Could be I'd even see less of you, without the view," Nathan replied with a nod towards the study and its view of Duke's living room. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Duke smiled and leant forwards for a soft kiss; slow, tender and unhurried, that Nathan happily returned.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>-</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Well that was an emotional rollercoaster!" said Duke as the credits to </span>
  <em>
    <span>People You May Know</span>
  </em>
  <span> rolled up the screen. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Nathan nodded an agreement. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I'm honestly not sure if I'm sad or inspired or turned on or appalled or happy or what," added Duke, sounding thoroughly confused as he shifted on the sofa from his almost-horizontal movie-watching lounging position, to something upright enough for him to properly look Nathan in the eye and rest a hand on Nathan's leg where his feet had been before.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Yeah, know what you mean."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"So, either we need some comedy to cheer us up, something inspiring to make us feel better, or. …" Duke left the sentence unfinished as his hand shifted up Nathan's leg a little way.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Or," agreed Nathan, fully aware of the tone Duke's voice had taken on, and of the point from his original list that he hadn't addressed. Nathan flicked to the Genres section of the Netflix menu and hovered over the Romance and LGBTQ sections for a moment, before hitting the first and scrolling down a little way. He paused on one to read the description: </span>
  <em>
    <span>Jack gets more than he bargained for when his new roommate turns out to have an exhibitionist side.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They looked at each other and burst out laughing.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>[The Sean Maher movie is real, the description quoted at the end is not.]</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0036"><h2>36. Chapter 36</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Nathan did as he had been instructed and ignored the ‘Closed for private function’ sign on the door of the Grey Gull. Inside it was quiet; empty really. Evidently the private function hadn’t yet started. Duke was waiting for him behind the bar. “Hey, what’s going on?” asked Nathan, the fact he’d been summoned here on his way out having peaked his curiosity.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey, Happy Birthday,” Duke said and greeted him with a kiss.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s not until Monday,” Nathan pointed out. “What’s your private function?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“See, that’s the thing,” Duke began. “It’s your surprise party.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Nathan’s eyebrows danced over his forehead in confusion and surprise.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Meeting Dwight …” he began in objection, pointing helplessly towards the door.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, no. I mean you can, if you want. That’s the thing,” Duke said again. “We weren’t sure you’d really appreciate the traditional everyone-jumping-out-at-you kind of surprise party. So, this way, you’re here first, you can say hello to people as they get here and it’s all just a bit more relaxed. Or, if you don’t like the idea at all, you can go have a drink with Dwight, I’ll take the sign off the door, and we’ll have our own private party tomorrow. He’s waiting on a text from me,” Duke finished with a glance at his phone.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Is he?” Nathan asked. “You ganged up on me!”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“No,” Duke began soothingly. “Well OK, yes. But only in the nicest possible way. And honestly, it’s up to you.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Nathan looked around him. “Any more surprises planned for the night?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“No,” Duke assured him. “It’s basically just going to be like a normal night in here except everyone is people you know and I’m not really going to charge anyone for anything. And also I’m not really working.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s really nice. Thanks Duke.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You are very welcome. Let me just text Dwight, let him know.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“We can still have our own private party tomorrow right?” Nathan murmured, stealing another kiss while they were still alone.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh yeah that part is not optional,” Duke replied before kissing him back.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>-</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>An hour or so later and the bar was filling up. Dwight had been the first to arrive, then Julia and Audrey followed by Jennifer. The six of them had joked around for a while until more people started to arrive, and every time Nathan thought that must be everyone, someone else would turn up. He was slightly surprised time and time again to realise how many people he actually knew here now. He never would have managed to invite them all if he’d been organising this himself.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“This is really nice Duke, thank you.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You know what, there is one tiny surprise,” Duke admitted. “A birthday cake, from Rosemary’s.” Duke laughed as Nathan’s eyes lit up. “I know that place is your favourite. It’s pancake flavour. She brought it with her and she just got here. She’s been dying to tell you about it for weeks. Come on, you have to be the one to cut it.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Go back to the part where it’s pancake flavour?” asked Nathan in awe, as he let Duke drag him over to where a growing crowd of people were admiring Rosemary’s cake. There was little doubt of what the flavour would be since it also looked like an actual stack of pancakes, complete with melting butter, maple syrup and blueberries.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Happy Birthday!” she told him, and handed him a knife to cut it.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Can’t cut this, it’s a work of art!” Nathan replied, gaping at it.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Ah, but think how good it’s going to taste then,” Duke suggested. “I tasted the </span>
  <em>
    <span>practice </span>
  </em>
  <span>version and that was delicious.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Nathan had to admit that was a compelling argument. “Hang on,” he said, and took out his phone to take a photo first, then cut a slice, putting it on the paper plate that Rosemary handed to him and passing it back to her. He cut a few more slices and then Rosemary took over, telling him to try some before it all disappeared. He didn’t need to be told twice. “It’s really good,” he told her enthusiatically around his first mouthful.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah this is even better than the last version - you added a bit more maple syrup?” Duke asked her.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She tilted her head back and forth. “I added a bit more </span>
  <em>
    <span>something</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” she replied cautiously.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Duke laughed. “Fair enough. So are we going to see it on the menu in the bakery? You could sell it.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes please,” Nathan mumbled around another mouthful.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Rosemary laughed. “Maybe cupcake versions, I don’t know. We’ll see how popular it is tonight first. I’m glad you like it anyway,” she told Nathan. “Happy Birthday to one of my most regular customers.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The three of them took a look round the room to see plenty of people happily eating or finishing off slices of the cake, and others coming up for more. It was definitely popular. Duke nudged Nathan and pointed his gaze towards the corner where Dwight and Charlotte were talking, apparently oblivious to the baked deliciousness on offer. “Looks like they’re getting on well.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re match-making again?” asked Nathan doubtfully.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Duke held his hands up in surrender. “I didn’t do a thing except invite your co-worker to your party. Looks like I didn’t need to.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Hmm well, no sense interrupting them,” admitted Nathan.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Exactly,” said Duke as though vindicated.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“All the more cake for us,” Nathan added happily and went back for a third slice.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I’m not a baker and I couldn’t get my head around whether a pancake flavour cake even made any sense, so I googled and found this: <a href="https://sugargeekshow.com/recipe/pancake-cake-recipe/">https://sugargeekshow.com/recipe/pancake-cake-recipe/</a>. Personally I am slightly appalled at the concept of candied bacon, but it seems like something Nathan might like :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0037"><h2>37. Chapter 37</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It was the evening of the day after the party and Nathan’s hangover headache was fading into insignificance in the face of the things that Duke was doing to him. He’d dug out the straps that Nathan had used to tie Duke to the bed in their forest cabin getaway, and now it was Nathan strapped to the mattress, spreadeagled and naked, while Duke ran his hands over Nathan’s chest and stomach, hips and arms.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke reached over to the bedside cabinet and pulled out a black silk scarf. "Blindfold?" he asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan nodded. He was already having trouble keeping his eyes open, and the thought of not being able to watch at all was an interesting change of pace. He lifted his head up while Duke tied the soft fabric lightly over his eyes. It gave just enough restriction to make sure he kept them closed. Duke fingers trailed away from the fabric, down his jaw and then away and there was nothing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The moment stretched into a longer one; no touch, no sound, nothing. "Duke?" asked Nathan.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I'm here Nate," Duke assured him, hands quickly finding his ribs as Duke leant forward. "I'm right here," he repeated and proved it with a soft kiss that Nathan returned for a moment before Duke pulled away. "You OK?" Duke asked. "What's your colour?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah, green," Nathan told him, his attention on the two handshaped areas of warmth on his chest.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Sorry I was caught up in the moment just looking," Duke told him. “I don’t think I say this often enough, but I love the way you look."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan flicked his head briefly in disagreement, “Something wrong with your eyes? Or your head?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke started to move his hands down over Nathan's body. "Why, you want me to change my mind?” Duke asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Not exactly," Nathan admitted after a moment.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"So shut up and let me feel you," Duke said with a smile as he ran his palms over Nathan's body.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Feel you," Nathan echoed happily, relaxing into Duke's touch. Unable to move and with his eyes covered, touch was all there was - no watching, nothing to see at all, no movement, no decisions to make, nothing to do, no need to think about anything - nothing but touch, nothing but sensation, nothing but the feel of Duke's strong clever hands on his skin. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke’s hands ran from ribs to hips to thighs and then he moved both of them to one leg. Duke felt the mattress shift underneath him as Duke moved around between his legs to run his hands down to Nathan’s ankle and then curled his fingers carefully around the sole of his foot. The touch was slow enough that it wasn't quite ticklish but still; it was intense enough that without the straps holding him in place, his foot would have flinched away involuntarily. Nathan was glad he couldn't move, even as he wriggled his toes and squirmed in his bonds.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And then an altogether new sensation; warm and wet and enveloping. It took Nathan a moment to realise that Duke had taken his big toe into his mouth. He gasped and felt as much as heard Duke hum a little noise of appreciation back at him. Duke moved his head and pressed his tongue to Nathan’s foot and Nathan wondered that he never quite realised before exactly how sensitive the skin there was.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He worried briefly how clean his foot was before remembering he had basically just got out of the shower, so Duke was OK. And then Duke pushed his tongue down to the crease between toes and conscious thought escaped him for a while. He spread his toes as far apart as he could and pushed his foot forward; except he was held firmly enough in place that his foot didn't actually move; all he achieved was straining his leg muscles against the sheets.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He felt Duke’s hand rest on his ankle as the other gripped his foot a little more firmly. He gasped at the combination of sensations. After a while, Duke pulled away from his foot and shifted back around to face Nathan, hands travelling up his body towards his hips. "Want to see what else I can do with my tongue?" he asked, voice low and soft, not really expecting an answer.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"No," murmured Nathan, "want to </span>
  <em>
    <span>feel</span>
  </em>
  <span> it." He was expecting a certain amount of teasing; maybe Duke’s fingers first, or a brief touch of his tongue for a moment. But no, the next thing he knew, his cock was deep in Duke's mouth, warm and enveloping, and Nathan gasped again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, so good,” he told Duke happily, his sentence fading into a moan as Duke moved his head and stretched his hands up Nathan’s torso, then back down to his hips, around to his ass and then his balls. Nathan had a brief moment to wonder how Duke even managed to do all that so smoothly, and then thoughts were replaced entirely by sensation. It felt like Duke was touching him everywhere at once, even as his tongue was doing blissful things to his cock. He was tied firmly enough and stretched out tightly enough that he really couldn’t move at all, but his hips stuttered underneath Duke’s attentions, his fingers clenched, his toes wriggled, and his ribs moved quick and fast as his breathing descended into panting.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He tried to speak again, to tell Duke how good it was, but he wasn’t sure he managed anything coherent. Not for the first time he marvelled at Duke’s ability to take him most of the way up to orgasm and then hold him there for a while. It wasn’t a tease exactly, it still felt amazing, he just managed to … slow things down, control the pleasure just right so that Nathan got to revel in the bliss for a while before the climax hit. And then the climax hit and he revelled in that too, shouting Duke’s name mixed in with praise and expressions of love.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As he stilled, Duke’s mouth pulled away and his fingers ran down Nathan’s ribs. “‘kin’ hell Duke, you’re amazing,” Nathan told him breathlessly as his muscles relaxed and his body sank into the bed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Happy Birthday,” Duke told him and Nathan could hear the smile in his voice. "You alright there for a moment?" Duke asked, the smile replaced by a breathlessness of his own. Nathan felt the bed move as Duke shifted his weight and heard what could only be the sounds of him jerking off.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah," replied Nathan happily. "Don't think I ever want to move."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You look so wonderful right now," Duke told him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"What, fucked?" asked Nathan, amused.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"No," replied Duke, a lot more seriously than Nathan had expected. "Mine."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I am," Nathan told him earnestly. "All yours. No one but you." It was strange to lie there, spent and bound while Duke knelt between his spread legs and jerked himself off, Nathan still blindfolded so he couldn't even see. It was strange but it was a thrill all the same, listening to the sounds Duke made, feeling his free hand laid possessively on Nathan’s hip. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan bit his lip, pulled it slowly under his teeth. He wasn't the natural show off that Duke was, but he knew by now that Duke liked the look of that usually-unconscious action. And the groan he heard in response confirmed it. "Yours to come over," Nathan told him, thinking that sounded more ridiculous than he'd expected. But Duke seemed happy enough with it and indeed it was only a few moments later that Nathan felt him do just that. Duke’s fingers pressed into his hip at the same time, and then Duke was leaning forward over him, kissing him and pulling the blindfold from his eyes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A few minutes later and they were curled up together under the covers. Nathan felt the pull of sleep call to him through the weight of his relaxed body, the warmth of Duke’s arms around him and the smell of Duke’s skin.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Happy Birthday Nate,” Duke told him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Best birthday ever,” Nathan told him happily and pulled Duke’s arms a little tighter around him as he drifted off to sleep.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0038"><h2>38. Chapter 38</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In which it all gets a bit meta, with a reference to The Colorado Kid novel that Haven is based on. And also in which Duke gets a cold, but I swear I started writing this before coronavirus stories started dominating the news. And Duke definitely just has a cold, this is set in pre-covid19 times, no self-isolation required.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It was early Saturday afternoon and Nathan was just finishing up some housework when his phone buzzed with a text from Tracy: [Could you please get Duke out of here? His cold is worse today, he's too ill to work but refusing to go home.]</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan was still reading this as another text came in, and he could almost hear the frustration bubbling up through the screen, [It's not even busy, there's plenty of staff here, nothing he needs to do can't wait a couple days and it would actually be easier to work without him sneezing everywhere]</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan suppressed a laugh, making a mental note to both thank Tracy for looking out for Duke, and to make sure Duke knew what a good bar manager he had working for him. [Be there in 10] he replied.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan could see straight away that Tracy was right - even from the doorway Duke looked ill. "Would you please let your boyfriend take you home and look after you?" Tracy said to Duke as Nathan joined them at the bar.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"She t’inks 'm ill," said Duke, sounding thoroughly stuffed up, and then punctuated his sentence with a sneeze.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"She's right Duke, you are clearly ill," said Nathan affectionately. "Come back to mine and rest."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Or I could stay here and get some of this paperwork done," Duke countered, though not very enthusiastically. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Paperwork can wait a few days surely? Do you really want to get all your staff ill so there's no one here when it gets busy?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Thank you!" said Tracy with feeling. "That's what I've been saying."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Because," Nathan added, "I can get you some food and painkillers but I do not know how to run a bar."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke looked from one of them to the other, his cold apparently catching up on him. "Well if you're going to gang up on me," he relented.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Come on then,” Nathan said. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tracy swept the paperwork out from under him and Duke made his way over towards the door. Nathan let him walk on ahead and turned back to mouth a </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘Thank you’ </span>
  </em>
  <span>at Tracy, at the same time as she was doing the same thing to him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke looked over Nathan's bookshelf as Nathan ordered Mexican food. "You've been stocking up," he pointed out when Nathan was done.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged self consciously. "Second-hand place near work, keep buying books I don't have time to read," he admitted.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Nothing wrong with that," Duke suggested. "You'll find time to read them eventually. What about today - read one to me?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Wow you must be ill,</span>
  </em>
  <span> Nathan thought, </span>
  <em>
    <span>if you like the idea of being read to.</span>
  </em>
  <span> "You have one in mind?" he asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke turned back to the pile and picked one off the top apparently at random, and held it up to Nathan at the same time as he read the cover himself. “Stephen King?” Duke said doubtfully. “This is a very short Stephen King.” He looked at both front and back cover, inspecting it closely. “And I’ve never heard of it,” he added, accusingly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Didn’t know you were a Stephen King fan,” Nathan replied, taking a seat on the sofa and waving Duke and the book over to join him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, I’m not particularly … I mean I like his stuff, but I haven’t read </span>
  <em>
    <span>everything</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Evidently,” replied Nathan, surpressing a grin.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alright smartass. How did I find myself with such a smartass?” Duke grumbled in mock complaint as he sat down and handed the book to Nathan.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re right it’s surprisingly short - that’s why I bought it,” Nathan replied and guestured towards his lap.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke flopped down onto his back, his head against Nathan’s thigh and his legs stretched out along the sofa. “Let’s see how far we can get before the food gets here,” he suggested.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan read for a while until the food arrived, they talked as they ate, and then resumed their positions on the sofa while Nathan read some more. It wasn’t the kind of story he would have expected from Stephen King; there was far less horror and blood and gore than he would have assumed, but he found he liked the feel of it somehow; the atmosphere it created felt … comfortable. He thought he would quite like to visit this place, if it existed. Maybe they would take a trip to Maine some day, drive along the coast and look out for a beach like this one.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He held the book in one hand as he read, the other resting on Duke’s chest as Duke’s head lay on Nathan’s thigh; a comforting heavy warmth. Duke rested his own hand on Nathan’s and Nathan turned his to meet it, their fingers running slowly over each other. Duke lay still with his eyes closed and Nathan didn’t stop in his reading, they just played their fingers lightly over each other as they soaked up the story.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nathan read the last sentence on the page, engrossed in the story and expecting more and then realised … there was no more.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Huh," he said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What?” asked Duke, sounding a little sleepy.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s the end,” Nathan replied.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“End? That's it?" asked Duke, dismayed and suddenly much more awake.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“There’s an Afterword,” Nathan explained, then began to read that too. And when he finished that he ended on another little, “Huh.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s it?” asked Duke again, outraged. “He’s right it’s frustating!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Guess it did warn us," replied Nathan. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"But … but what about the Colorado Kid? Who was he? How did he die? We don't get anything?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Doesn't look like it," said Nathan, looking at the cover again as though it might provide some fresh information.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"That is so outrageous I might have to come up with some answers myself."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Oh? Like what?" asked Nathan, interested. He put the book down on the coffee table, entirely undecided on what he thought of it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Well it could be anything couldn't it? He could be … a spy, or a time traveller, or … an alien. Or he could be … a totally normal guy murdered by some demon-like creature from another world and the local authorities covered it up because they don't want everyone to know their nice little fishing village is actually a centre of mystical convergence or whatever."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Hmmm," replied Nathan doubtfully. "Sure you don't have a fever?" and rested his hand on Duke's forehead as though to test it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Duke batted him away with a laugh. "Anything would make more sense than just </span>
  <em>
    <span>leaving</span>
  </em>
  <span> it," he insisted with a sigh. “I liked you reading it to me though,” he offered. “Very restful.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Good,” Nathan smiled. He looked at the clock, it was later than he’d realised. “Probably time for some proper rest. You sleeping here?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“If you don’t mind an ill person in your bed,” replied Duke.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Not when that ill person is you,” Nathan replied, and kissed the top of his head softly. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0039"><h2>39. Chapter 39</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>I kind of lost momentum with this fic, but I wanted to add a final chapter to end it on a good note and to basically just kind of leave them to their lives with each other. Because, given a whole multi-verse of possibilities, there are surely some realities out there where Duke Crocker and Nathan Wuornos are living happily ever after together. And, maybe, one of those realities has days in it that look a little bit like this …</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Duke rolled up the yoga mat, happy that he’d tried an online class with a new instructor. It had been hard work but worth it; his whole body felt warm and at ease, the edge of tiredness just enough to add to the relaxation. He followed it up with a warm shower, threw on a comfy old pair of shorts and didn’t bother buttoning the nearest available shirt. He made his way towards the fridge and the beers that waited there, stopping in the living room on the way to tidy a few things and light some more incense. Humming happily to himself he glanced at the time and realised Nate would probably be here soon; something that only added to his good mood.</p><p>He was mid-way to the kitchen when he heard a knock - the familiar rhythm of Nathan’s specific knock - on the door, and he forgot the beer to answer the door instead. Nathan had that slightly-frazzled look around the eyes he got after a busy day at work, and Duke might have been about to ask about his day but the brief space of time it took him to say hello was also long enough for him to get distracted by the rest of him, a very pleasing sight in a new and perfectly tailored suit. From freshly shined shoes to subtly elegant cufflinks, Nathan’s whole look was several degrees more polished than his usual office-smart work outfits. </p><p>“You’re looking extra smart today,” Duke told him appreciatively as he stepped aside to let Nathan in and then closed the door behind him, taking the opportunity to check out Nathan’s perfectly-dressed ass while he was at it.</p><p>“Oh, yeah,” said Nathan, as though he’d forgotten. “Had to get involved in the interviews for the new teaching post. Thought I’d better make an effort.”</p><p>“Tough day?” Duke asked, making it to the fridge eventually and putting a couple beers on the counter while he looked for the bottle opener. “You look kinda tired.”</p><p>“It was fine, just busy.”</p><p>“I like the look!” Duke told him, looking Nathan up and down again. “Making me feel underdressed,” he added in an aside. He didn’t really mean anything particular by it; it was just the kind of thing people said.</p><p>Nate’s eyes sparked though and he turned it into something more. “I like you underdressed,” he pointed out as he reached forwards to pull Duke’s shirt just a little further apart.</p><p>Duke felt a little pulse of arousal spark inside him at the look on Nate’s face and the tone of his voice. He had always loved the way Nate looked at him, even when there were two panes of glass and the width of the street between them, and he didn’t think that would ever change. And now that they knew each other better, now that Nate was more relaxed and more confident with him, sometimes even more than the look in Nathan’s eye it was the things he said that made the blood pump hard in Duke’s veins. Sometimes it was the words Nathan used, and sometimes it was the tone of his voice. Today, that simple little sentence of his held just a touch of instruction to it, a firmness borrowed perhaps from the lecture hall, or inspired by the need to scare a disruptive student back into line. It wasn’t a command; it wasn’t much more than a suggestion really, but any more would have been too much. And the best thing about it was the way that Nathan saw - the way he <em> always saw </em>- the effect it had on Duke.</p><p>Duke shrugged the shirt off his shoulders and let it fall to the floor behind him. “Any other suggestions?” he asked, taking in the way Nathan’s eyes flicked over his skin.</p><p>“Bedroom,” Nathan replied, as though the idea had just occurred to him, or as though he were selecting from an extensive range of available options.</p><p>Duke’s grin grew wider as he turned in that direction but he didn’t get far before Nathan spoke again.</p><p>“Leave your clothes out here.”</p><p>Duke kept walking as he undid the flies of his shorts, and stepped quickly out of them barely breaking his stride to leave them behind him just in front of the bedroom door. With the blinds on the bedroom window permanently closed enough that no one could see in, he flicked on the lamp next to the bed, and turned to see Nathan shutting the bedroom door behind him.</p><p>Duke stood and watched him for a moment, the unfamiliar suit somehow even more striking in this more private space. It really was perfectly cut, and the dark blue, almost-black fabric was perfectly balanced by a lighter blue tie that brought out the sparkling blue of his eyes. He looked gorgeous in a particularly immaculate and formal kind of a way that served only to highlight Duke’s entire lack of any item of clothing at all. Even the brushed platinum cufflinks matched the ring Nathan wore on one impeccably gorgeous hand. And his attention was drawn to both of those as Nathan straightened the cufflinks in an action Duke felt fairly sure was necessary only for how it added to the whole look.</p><p>Nathan looked back at him, looked over him, and Duke felt his skin, and his breathing, and his cock, respond happily to the attention. “And?” he asked, as though he had no idea what could possibly be on Nathan’s mind next.</p><p>“Bed.”</p><p>Duke lay back against a couple of pillows, hands behind his head for a moment, enjoying the opportunity to show off as he always did. </p><p>Nathan stepped a little closer, directly in front of him at the foot of the bed. He repeated the unreasonably-attractive cufflink-straightening move with the other hand, and then clasped one hand around the other wrist as though settling in to wait.</p><p>Duke felt his blood pump just a little quicker. “You going to join me?”</p><p>“Nope,” said Nathan firmly.</p><p>Duke shifted under the force of Nate’s gaze, feeling again the intensity of his look as an almost-physical pressure against his skin. “You’re just going to stand there looking all severe and sexy in your perfectly tailored suit?”</p><p>“Yep,” replied Nathan happily.</p><p>“And what do you expect me to do about that exactly?” asked Duke, going for an amused frustration that he wasn’t sure he pulled off; his arousal at being the object of Nate’s scrutiny getting to him already.</p><p>Nathan took a moment to very deliberately and obviously look all the way down Duke’s body and then lazily back up again before replying, “Exactly and whatever you want.”</p><p>Duke took a hand out from behind his head and brought it down his body towards his hips.</p><p>“You know just, whatever comes naturally,” Nathan finished, only the tiniest little grin at the corner of his mouth giving away his amusement at his own - terrible - pun.</p><p>Duke snorted in reluctant laughter, then forgot the joke to take hold of his cock. With a few strokes he brought himself to full hardness, gratified as always by the way Nate’s eyes flicked from his face to his cock at the sight. Duke shifted his hips a little against the bed, getting comfortable as he stroked slowly, settling in for something that he did not intend to rush. He tucked one ankle under the other knee, and pushed his other hand a little further behind his head to give himself a better view down the bed, down his own body but more importantly of Nate’s. The contrast of it was appealing, with Nathan’s formal outfit serving to accentuate Duke’s nakedness and make him feel even more exposed; open to Nathan’s intense and searching scrutiny in the absolute best possible way. He moved his hand a little faster, only a little. “Hope you don’t have anywhere to be,” Duke said, though he knew Nate was spending the night. “Gonna take my time here.”</p><p>“You think you can be that patient?” Nate asked, as though assessing Duke’s resolve. “Think you’ve got that much control?”</p><p>Duke gasped. <em> I did until you said that </em>, he thought, and tried not to let his hand speed up too much.</p><p>“You’re so beautiful, all stretched out in the lamp light. Perfectly positioned to show off your chest, but you probably know that.” Duke absolutely did know that, but he didn’t respond, and Nathan kept talking. “Sometimes I want to film you so the whole world can see how beautiful you are. Sometimes I want to keep you all for myself.”</p><p>“And which of those is today?”</p><p>Nathan flicked an eyebrow. “Maybe it’s both. Maybe I haven’t decided yet. Maybe, there’s a hidden camera in here. Maybe I’m gonna see how good a show you put on before I decide what to do with the footage.”</p><p>Duke’s arousal shot up again, even as he knew Nate would not have put a camera in his bedroom without his agreement. But it was an easy fantasy to believe, and an appealing one at that. There were plenty of places in here a camera could be hidden, particularly if Nate had decided to buy one small enough, well made enough. Looking at him now in his expensive suit it was easy to believe he might have bought the most sophisticated surveillance equipment out there, easy to believe there could be multiple different camera angles focused on him right now. The thought of having footage of this up online where unknown numbers of unknown people might watch him an unknown number of times was a familiar fantasy, one he had almost acted on many times in the past. But the thought of Nate watching this again later, studying it, assessing him with a practiced eye; that was a bigger turn on even than he might have expected.</p><p>Nathan stepped a little closer to the foot of the bed, obvious in the way he watched Duke’s face, his hand, his cock, his whole body. “Maybe,” Nathan suggested after a long moment, “I’ll have to watch the footage <em> very </em>carefully to decide if this is the show everyone’s gonna see. Might watch over and over and over again, study every flick of your wrist, every sound you make, every shift of your hips.”</p><p>“You can …” Duke’s level of breathlessness surprised him, and he slowed his hand a little, tried to talk again. “Tell me what you want to see, if you like.”</p><p>“Want to see you basking in your own arousal. Enjoying yourself. Taking your time.”</p><p><em> That was the plan, </em> thought Duke, <em> but you keep talking to me like that it’s not going to last very long. </em> He let his hand speed up for a moment, then consciously slowed it down again. As a compromise to himself he kept it slow while he shifted his other hand out from behind his head and brought it to his balls, squeezing lightly, focusing on one hand then the other, concentrating on basking in his own touch and in Nathan’s gaze.</p><p>“Yeah. Like that,” Nate told him.</p><p>Duke watched Nathan watching him for a while, then closed his eyes as he concentrated on finding the perfect rhythm with his hands to control his level of arousal. Then he felt the bed shift and looked up to see Nathan kneeling and then crawling up the bed, knees and hands either side of Duke’s body. Duke moved his ankle out from under his knee to bring his legs alongside each other and give Nathan more room.</p><p>"Don't stop," Nate said quickly. "Wanna get a better look at you." </p><p><em> Good god Nate, you always know just what to say, </em> Duke thought as his heart pumped a little harder again.</p><p>Nathan looked down at Duke’s hands as he came level with Duke’s hips, studying the movement for a while, Duke watching himself being watched. Then he shifted further up, penetrating gaze focused on Duke’s stomach and chest. His suit jacket was undone now and hung down either side of their bodies as Nathan’s face came level with his. Nate’s knees were either side of Duke’s hips, hands outside Duke’s shoulders, and suit jacket framing the gaps at their sides. He was surrounded and enveloped by <em> Nate </em>. Warm and solid and here, right there close enough to touch, close enough to smell. Close enough to kiss, even though they didn’t.</p><p></p><blockquote>
  <p>Tomorrow they would talk about it …</p>
  <p>"Do you think it's odd so much of our sex life involves us hardly touching each other?"</p>
  <p>"What does it matter if it is, when it works so well?"</p>
  <p>… but for now they were too caught up in the moment to care.</p>
</blockquote><p>Duke was ever more aware of his own body and his naked skin in the presence of Nathan’s unruffled outfit. “No matter how long I … bask,” Duke began, breathless, “I’m going to come eventually. And then ... Then I’m going to get my hands on that ridiculously-smart suit. <em> Inside </em> your ridiculously-smart suit,” he corrected himself. “To leave you thoroughly dishevelled, and looking even more hot than you do now.”</p><p>“That so?” replied Nate, sounding far more in control of himself that Duke might have expected at this point.</p><p>“Uh huh, yep, gonna …” Duke began, but he was so close now, so, so close, and surely the rest of that sentence - whatever it had been - could wait. He closed his eyes, let out a long moan and was dimly aware of Nathan moving to the side; reaching towards the bedside cabinet perhaps. And then Nate’s weight shifted again, there was the sound of something popping open, and Duke opened his eyes in time to see Nathan squeeze a drop of lube above him. He gasped in surprise as the cool lube hit his fingers and sank through them onto the hot skin of his cock. “More,” he asked, and gave up any pretence of waiting, his other hand gripping his balls more tightly as he moved faster and faster over his cock, pleasure building in between the surprise as Nathan added more lube that ran over and through his fingers, or landed directly on the head of his cock, so that his whole shaft was quickly covered. Nathan dropped the lube and leant forwards again, hands either side of Duke’s shoulders. Nate covered Duke’s body with his, suit jacket surrounding them in a little cocoon so that even if there had been a camera in here it probably wouldn’t have been able to see anything now.</p><p>“Too good to share,” Nathan said firmly as his eyes flicked all over Duke’s face. “All mine.”</p><p>“Yeah,” Duke managed as his hand shifted up another gear. “All yours,” he agreed happily.</p><p>“All mine,” Nathan said again, sounding ever more possessive by the moment. “Let me see your face as you come for me.”</p><p>“Yea-” Duke managed half the word before he lost himself in the climax of pleasure, hands and hips moving of their own accord. He tried to hold Nathan’s gaze but his eyes slid shut on a moan that died only when Nathan kissed it from him. He kissed back eagerly, stroking himself through the last of his pleasure. When their kiss ended Nathan knelt up to look down at him.</p><p>“Came all over your fancy suit,” Duke realised with a grimace.</p><p>Nathan didn’t seem to care though and leant back down pressing their bodies together, then rolling them over so Duke was on top. Duke kissed him as he undid shirt buttons, somewhat disappointed to find Nathan had a t-shirt on underneath. Nathan laughed at his impatience, and Duke almost changed tack to strip Nathan as naked as he was, but he hadn’t been lying before; he wanted to see him half in and half out of his suit, obviously rumpled, dishevelled and ravaged. So he pulled the jacket to either side and pushed the shirt and t-shirt up Nathan’s stomach to his chest, running his palms over skin briefly before turning his attention to Nathan’s flies, then pushing pants and underwear away to expose Nate’s eager erection.</p><p>“Still want it slow?” asked Duke suspecting he knew the answer.</p><p>“No,” admitted Nate.</p><p>Duke grabbed the tube of lube to cover his hand with it again and then wrapped his fingers tight around Nate’s cock, moving hard and fast. He pressed the other hand tight to the base of Nate’s cock, and Nathan threw his head back on a loud shout, hands scrambling to find purchase against the sheets. </p><p>Duke moved his hand for one long moment, then two, and then … he stopped. “Don’t want it too fast though,” he said, pitched as an observation that Nathan seemed happy to let stand. And then he moved again, and again, bursts of hard and fast interspersed with gaps during which Nathan panted and moaned and shifted underneath him waiting for the next burst of sensation.</p><p>Duke soaked up the arousal coming off him, basking in his own afterglow as well as the sight of the smartly-dressed (half-dressed) professor falling apart in his hands. And then he shifted his hands again, and again, and then the next time he didn’t stop, watching happily as Nathan’s climax hit and he came over his stomach.</p><p>Duke leant down to kiss him, pressing their sticky bodies together, and Nathan kissed back even as his hips still pulsed through the last of his orgasm. “That was hot,” Duke told him.</p><p>“I’ll have to wear my smart suits more often,” Nathan joked.</p><p>“You’re always hot,” Duke clarified. “Whatever you’re wearing (or half wearing) you are always stunning, and the way you look at me just always turns me on, and I pretty much love every single thing about you.”</p><p>“I love you too Duke. I love the way we fit together.”</p><p>“We do, don’t we?” agreed Duke happily. “Oh wow we’ve really messed up your suit though,” he realised.</p><p>“Needs dry cleaning anyway, probably be fine,” Nathan shrugged.</p><p>“You want to borrow something to change into? And then I think I’m going to order take out because I am suddenly incredibly hungry.”</p><p>“For some reason,” Nathan smiled at him.</p><p>“And you’re going to want to eat because if you think I’m keeping my hands off you later, then you … have vastly underestimated how attractive you are.”</p><p>“You have plans energetic enough I need to eat first?” Nathan asked.</p><p>“I do now,” replied Duke with a smirk.</p><p>Nathan laughed and pulled him close. “I love you,” he said.</p><p>“I love you too,” Duke just had time to reply before Nate pulled him into a kiss, soft, tender and close, everything but each other forgotten for a good long moment as they tasted each other’s skin.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So that’s it for this fic, I’m going to leave them to their life and their fun. Hope you enjoyed!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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